SRINAGAR: Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Monday that its air defence forces had shot down a US MQ-9 Reaper drone over the Strait of Hormuz, with the aircraft crashing into waters of the Gulf.
According to Iran’s Mehr News Agency, the IRGC said its air defence units used missile fire early on Monday to bring down the long-range US drone. The IRGC’s public relations office described the operation as being carried out by its air-defence forces and said the drone fell into the Gulf.
The IRGC also said the continued presence of the Iranian people in the field represented strong support for the country’s armed forces.
The reported drone shoot-down followed a US strike on Sunday against two Iranian launchers on Larak Island. A US official told Axios that the operation was the first known American strike on Iranian territory since late July.
Iran’s Tasnim News Agency reported that preliminary information indicated that the US attack had been conducted using drones.
The US operation targeted Iranian systems that, according to the US side, were allegedly being prepared to launch rockets carrying sea mines into the Strait of Hormuz.
The IRGC said the strike killed and wounded several Iranian fighters and civilians and vowed to retaliate.
