Early Thursday morning, news broke out about the shooting of an American drone by an air missile launched by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. This incident was confirmed by both: the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s chief and the White House administration, with both issuing different statements. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard chief said that the American drone had violated the sovereignty of the Islamic Republic of Iran, whereas White House representatives said that the drone was in international air-space and not in Iranian air-space.
This incident is proving to be another flashpoint in an already tensed relationship between the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran. The tensions between U.S.A and Iran were already rising when two oil tankers belonging to Japan and Norway were attacked in the Strait of Hormuz.
These attacks, as per intelligence agencies, were carried out by the Iranian intelligence agency, which the Iranian administration denies and states that this incident is a false flag operation carried out by the American agencies. This shooting of the U.S. drone by Iran has acted as an escalation of tensions persisting in the Middle East. As the situation on ground is worsening, countries such as Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates as well as Israel have officially or unofficially advocated for the stationing of U.S. forces in the Middle East. This is in addition to the blockade imposed on Qatar by other Middle Eastern countries: Saudi Arabia, U.A.E., Egypt, Bahrain and Kuwait. These countries have accused Qatar of helping organizations which were working against their interests, and fulfilling the Iranian interests.
With the process of U.S. forces being stationed in Middle East and with a high possibility of Russia getting involved to support other countries and counter U.S. influence in the Middle East, it is only a matter of time before another war starts in the Middle Eastern region. This will have consequences for each and every country, as a war in this region will disrupt the oil supply—resulting in a catastrophic period for economies like India and China, who need these resources to fulfil their growing demand for energy.