On June 20, 2019, Iran's integrated system of Air Defense Forces shot down a United States RQ-4A Global Hawk BAMS-D surveillance drone[2][3][4] with a surface-to-air missile over the Strait of Hormuz.

U.S. President Donald Trump initially ordered a military strike against Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) radar and missile sites before reversing the decision.

Instead, the U.S. retaliated with cyberattacks on the IRGC's missile-control systems (which Iran says were firewalled), announced new sanctions against several Iranian nationals, and requested a closed-door UN Security Council meeting to address the regional tensions.

[13] Iranian Major General and IRGC commander Hossein Salami said that the drone took off at 00:14 local time from a U.S. military base south of the Persian Gulf and flew toward Chabahar.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, National Security Adviser John Bolton, and CIA Director Gina Haspel were reportedly in favor of a military response and objected to the reversal.

[23] In an interview with NBC News, he expounded on his decision-making process, saying that though the strike package was "cocked and loaded", he had not given final approval to the operation and added that no warplanes had taken off before the reversal.

He reiterated that he did not desire war with Iran and was open to unconditional talks with Iranian leadership, but affirmed that they "can't have nuclear weapons" and warned that in the event of a conflict there would be "obliteration like you've never seen before".

[37] A June 22 article in The Wall Street Journal, citing unidentified administration officials close to internal deliberations, reported that, privately, Trump bemoaned the cost of the downed drone – around $130 million (not including R&D) – but said that the loss would pale in comparison in the eyes of U.S. citizens to potential Iranian casualties.

[36] In leaked diplomatic documents, UK ambassador to Washington Kim Darroch questioned Trump's claim that he had aborted the missile strike because it would have caused 150 casualties, saying it "doesn't stand up".

"[39] On June 27, a week after the incident, U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff David Goldfein confirmed that U.S. drone operations in the region were continuing unabated despite the shoot-down.

[40] On June 22, it was reported that Trump had approved cyberattacks intended to disable IRGC computer systems used to control rocket and missile launches the day of the shoot-down.

[41] On June 24, Trump announced new targeted sanctions in Executive Order 13876 against Iranian and Revolutionary Guard Corps leadership, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and his office.

The sanctions also targeted the commanders of the IRGC Navy's five districts: Abbas Gholamshahi, Ramezan Zirahi, Yadollah Badin, Mansour Ravankar, and Ali Ozma'i.

[42][43] The sanctions largely froze any assets under U.S. jurisdiction, blocked the targeted leaders from dollar-denominated transactions, and barred international banks from moving money on their behalf.

[45] Also on June 24, Iranian Information and Communications Technology Minister Mohammad-Javad Azari Jahromi said the cyberattacks were firewalled, commenting "They try hard, but they have yet to carry out a successful attack.