Daijiworld Media Network - Tehran
Tehran, Oct 29: Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has claimed that its naval forces captured and safely landed a US surveillance drone west of the strategically important Strait of Hormuz, according to Iranian state media.
In a statement reported by Iran's IRNA news agency on Thursday, the IRGC Navy said its Electronic Warfare Unit had successfully taken control of an American MQM-170 reconnaissance and decoy drone and brought it down intact through an electronic warfare operation.
The IRGC described the aircraft as an American military spy and deception drone, claiming that its mission was to identify Iran's air defence systems along the Persian Gulf coastline and the Strait of Hormuz.
According to the statement, Iranian military specialists examined information retrieved from the aircraft and determined that it had taken off from the coast of one of the countries along the southern Persian Gulf.
The IRGC did not identify the country from which the drone allegedly originated or provide further details about the circumstances surrounding its capture.
The latest announcement came hours after the IRGC reported intercepting and destroying another US-made MQ-1 drone east of the Strait of Hormuz, opposite the coastal area of Sirik in southern Iran.
Iranian state media reported that the drone was brought down by an advanced air defence system operating under the country's integrated national air defence network. The IRGC described the incident as the 14th MQ-1 drone intercepted and destroyed by its air defence system.
The two announcements involve different drone models and separate locations on either side of the Strait of Hormuz.
The developments come amid heightened tensions between Iran and the United States over military activities and control of the strategic waterway, which connects the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and serves as a crucial route for global oil shipments.
The Iranian claims had not been independently verified in the reports reviewed.