Trump calls Iran’s shooting down US drone 'a new fly in the ointment'

US President Donald Trump has played down Iran's downing of an intruding American spy drone, saying it could have been a mistake.

“This is a new fly in the ointment,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office of the White House on Thursday while meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau there.

"I think probably Iran made a mistake - I would imagine it was a general or somebody that made a mistake in shooting that drone down," Trump said.

Trump further downplayed the incident by emphasizing the aircraft had been unmanned. He claimed that if the drone had had a pilot "it would have made a big difference" to him.

"We had nobody in the drone. It would have made a big difference, let me tell you, it would have made a big, big difference" if the aircraft had been piloted, Trump said. 

Despite Trump’s apparent effort to de-escalate escalating tensions in the Persian Gulf region, top senators are worried that Trump might eventually start a new war in the region.

"The president may not intend to go to war here, but we're worried that he and the Administration may bumble into a war,"   Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters after meeting with top administration officials at the White House on Thursday.

Schumer, however, said there needed to be an open debate and a congressional decision on funding before any military operation was launched.

Senate’s Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the Trump administration was engaged in what he called measured responses to Iran.

PressTV-Luring Trump to war

This is about increasing U.S.-Iran tensions under the pressure of the “B-Team”.

US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the United States has no appetite to go to war with Iran.

Pelosi, the top Democrat in Congress, told reporters on Thursday that 20 lawmakers will receive a briefing to learn more about the incident, Reuters reported.

"I think it's a dangerous situation," Pelosi said. "We have to be strong and strategic about how we protect our interests. We also cannot be reckless in what we do, so it will be interesting to see what they have to say.

"I don't think the president wants to go to war. There's no appetite for going to war in our country,” she added.

Pelosi said tensions were high in the Middle East region and worried that "a miscalculation on either side could provoke something very bad."

Meanwhile, the Iranian officials said the US drone was engaged in a spying mission over Iranian territory when it was shot down.

The incident was the latest in a chain of events around the Persian Gulf region which started after Washington upped the ante in its conflict with Iran by deploying additional troops, along with Patriot missiles and manned and unmanned spying aircraft, aircraft carriers, and  B-52 bombers to the Middle East over the past few weeks. Iran, in response, called on the US to stop instigating conflict in the region and pull its troops out of the Persian Gulf. 

PressTV-Watch Iran’s Khordad 3 air defense shoot down US drone

The video shows the moment an indigenous Khordad 3 air defense system fires a surface-to-air missile at an intruding US spy drone.

The Islamic Republic insists that Iran's military is solely for defensive purposes and does not pose a threat to other countries. Iran has recently made major breakthroughs in its defense sector and attained self-sufficiency in producing military equipment and hardware despite the sanctions and Western economic pressure slapped on the nation.

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