US President Donald Trump ordered a retaliatory military attack against Iran after the drone shootdown but then called it off, saying the response wouldn't be "proportionate" and instead pledged new sanctions on the country.
But after the drone's downing, Trump secretly authorized US Cyber Command to carry out a retaliatory cyber attack on Iran, two officials told the Associated Press (AP) on Saturday.
A third official confirmed the broad outlines of the attack. All spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the operation.
Tehran shot down the US military drone on Thursday after it violated Iranian airspace; the move is in compliance of the Article 51 of the UN Charter