IRGC Shoots Down US Drone in Iran’s Airspace

TEHRAN  – The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force shot down a US unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that intruded into the airspace of Iran on Thursday morning.

The IRGC public relations department said in a statement on Thursday that a US spy drone that violated the Iranian territorial airspace in the early hours of Thursday, was fired at by the IRGC Aerospace Force’s air defense unit near the Kooh-e-Mobarak region in the southern province of Hormozgan, according to the Tasnim News Agency.

It added that the American “Global Hawk” spy drone has been shot down.

The area is located at the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz, only some 80 kilometers from the United Arab Emirates and Oman.

The incident occurred a day after Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani warned of Tehran’s harsh response to any intrusion into its airspace or maritime borders.

 Speaking on the sidelines of the 10th International Meeting of High Representatives for Security Issues in Russia’s Ufa on Wednesday, Shamkhani emphasized that Iran robustly protects its aerial and maritime borders.

He also described the Iranian FIR (flight information region) as the country’s “redline”, saying, “No matter whose plane trespasses into it (the airspace), we have always given and will give a harsh response to intruders.”

M.Wassouf