Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan flanked by Trump and John Bolton
Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan flanked by Trump and John BoltonREUTERS

Senior Trump administration officials met Thursday morning to discuss possible US responses, after the Iranian military shot down an American drone aircraft Wednesday.

Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan, along with incoming Acting Defense Secretary Mark Esper are attending the meeting, according to CNN.

Iran identified the downed US aircraft as an RQ-4 Global Hawk, and while the US has confirmed a drone aircraft was shot down, the Pentagon claimed it was a MQ-4C Triton.

US officials emphasized that the aircraft was in international airspace.

The drone was reportedly flying over the Straits of Hormuz at the time of the downing. Iran has been implicated in a number of recent attacks on oil tankers in the water way.

While CNN initially reported that President Donald Trump was not expected to attend, it was later reported that the President was in fact taking part in the meeting.

The report added that White House officials were “tight-lipped” about details of the meeting and possible US responses to the Iranian shoot-down.

Earlier on Thursday, Trump warned that Iran had “made a very big mistake!”

The shooting down of the American drone comes amid heightened tensions between the Islamic Republic and the US. Earlier on Wednesday, the Pentagon said that the latest deployment of 1,000 additional troops to the Middle East, announced earlier this week, will include a Patriot missile battalion, manned and unmanned surveillance aircraft and “other deterrence capabilities.”