The U.S. on Friday barred American-registered aircraft from flying over Iranian-administered airspace in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. The move, in reaction to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard shooting down a U.S. military surveillance drone, affects a region crucial to global air travel.
The Federal Aviation Administration warned of a “potential for miscalculation or misidentification” in the region after an Iranian surface-to-air missile on Thursday brought down a U.S. Navy RQ-4A Global Hawk, an unmanned aircraft with a wingspan larger than a Boeing 737 jetliner and costing over $100 million.
President Trump ordered limited strikes on Iran in response, but then called them off at the 11th hour on Thursday evening for unknown reasons.