Donald Trump first orders attack on Iran, then pulls off operation: Officials

Washington : The US President Donald Trump on Thursday ordered an attack on Iran in retaliation to downing of a surveillance drone in the Strait of Hormuz; but later he called off the operation just hours before it was scheduled to happen, said an official.

According to a report by NDTV, an official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive national security decisions, said the president approved the strikes after Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) earlier in the day shot down a Navy RQ-4 drone operating off Iran's southern coast, a move Trump described as a "very big mistake."

But later he changed his mind and called off his decision to carry the attack on Iran. It was not immediately clear why Trump decided to pull back the operation or what it would have included.

The report about his decision was first reported by the New York Times.

Earlier, Donald Trump condemned the shoot-down but also appeared to tamp down speculation that a counterstrike might be in the works, saying the drone may have been shot down without the knowledge of Iranian leaders.

"I'm not just talking about the country made a mistake. I'm talking about somebody under the command of that country made a mistake," Trump said at the White House. "I find it hard to believe it was intentional" on the part of Iran's top officials, the president said.