Retired U.S. Army Gen. Wesley Clark said Tuesday that Iran's approach — flying a drone toward a U.S. aircraft carrier — is odd, but it seems like the country is trying to avoid "getting whipped again."
A U.S. Navy fighter jet shot down an Iranian drone that was approaching the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea, U.S. Central Command said Tuesday.
The former NATO supreme allied commander told Newsmax's "American Agenda" that the Iranians seem to be testing the waters.
"I don't think the Iranians are spoiling for a fight at this point," Clark said.
"I think they're struggling to figure out how to accommodate President [Donald] Trump's needs and demands without getting whipped again by the United States," he continued.
"It's not necessarily a sign that conflict is imminent. This is a carrier task force taking care of its own security," Clark said.
"It's 500 miles offshore; an Iranian drone is approaching. It's a reconnaissance drone, but it might be armed," he continued.
"It continued to approach. You don't do that to an American carrier task force."
He said the carrier task force commander made the right choice in ordering the drone to be destroyed.
"If you've got hostile intent or if your diplomats are making threatening comments, the task force had every right to take it out, and we did."
Clark said Iran may have overreached in its public statements about what it needs to have an agreement with the U.S. to avoid further conflict.
"I think they want to protect their ability to have nuclear energy. I think they still want some right to reprocess to a low order," he said.
"I think they want some trust and not intrusive inspections."
But Clark said Trump won't agree to those terms that favor Iran.
"I think that's not going to fly. So there have to be inspections," he said.
"They shouldn't be able to reprocess at all. And they honestly don't need nuclear energy at this point," Clark continued.
"So I hope the United States can move them away from that."
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday that diplomatic talks with Iran remain on schedule despite the incident.
She said the military acted appropriately to protect the naval task force.
Leavitt said the administration remains intent on pursuing diplomatic options to ease tensions between the U.S. and Iran and talks later in the week are still scheduled.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Jim Mishler ✉
Jim Mishler, a seasoned reporter, anchor and news director, has decades of experience covering crime, politics and environmental issues.
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