Trump taunts Iran Releasing what is Thought to Be Classified Material
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U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday posted on Twitter a photo of what appeared to be the site of a failed Iranian satellite launch, raising questions about whether he had disclosed U.S. surveillance secrets.
The black-and-white photo showed the fire-blasted launch site at a space centre in northern Iran including a damaged gantry service tower and a downed mobile erector launcher.
Trump, in his tweet, cited the specific location of the site, saying the United States was not involved in the “catastrophic accident during final launch preparations for the Safir SLV Launch at Semnan Launch Site One in Iran.”
As pictures from commercial satellites of a rocket’s smoking remains began to circulate, President Trump denied Friday on Twitter that the United States was involved. It was an unusual message because the Iranian government had neither acknowledged the accident nor blamed the United States. His tweet ended with an apparent taunt: “I wish Iran best wishes and good luck in determining what happened” in the fiery accident.
But Mr. Trump also included in his tweet a high-resolution image of the disaster, immediately raising questions about whether he had plucked a classified image from his morning intelligence briefing to troll the Iranians. The president seemed to resolve the question on Friday night on his way to Camp David when he told reporters, “We had a photo and I released it, which I have the absolute right to do.”
Speaking to reporters at the White House later on Friday, Trump defended his posting of the photo and reiterated that the United States had nothing to do with the incident.
President Donald Trump claimed that the US had nothing to do with the explosion of an Iranian rocket, and defended tweeting a photo of such high resolution that it prompted questions about whether the President had publicly released classified imagery.
