In the latest sign that the US sanctions on Iran are fueling Iranian hostility toward the US, an Iranian news agency published footage that allegedly shows how an Iranian military drone is closely monitoring the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and another US warship in the Persian Gulf. However, the US Navy claims that USS Eisenhower has not entered the Persian Gulf since 2016. It also said that it wants to maintain free passage in the Strait of Hormuz.
Last week, after US President Trump decided to stop issuing waivers for the largest importers of Iranian oil, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman if it would be barred from using it.