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Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has claimed that it shot down a US MQ-1 military drone over the strategically important Strait of Hormuz.
In a statement on Monday, the IRGC said its aerospace force detected and destroyed the drone using an advanced integrated air defence system developed with domestic technology.
The IRGC’s public relations office said the US military drone was an MQ-1 Predator.
The statement also claimed that the US Air Force and Navy had long retired the older MQ-1 model in favour of the larger and more advanced MQ-9 Reaper. Iranian military officials, however, said the Pentagon had reactivated the older platform after a significant number of US MQ-9 drones were destroyed during the regional conflict.
The US government did not immediately confirm the Iranian claim, and the reported incident could not be independently verified. Earlier reports have, however, cited US officials as saying that Iranian fire had recently shot down at least two US MQ-1 drones.
The Strait of Hormuz is one of the world’s most important energy transit routes. Shipping through the waterway has fallen sharply amid the continuing US-Iran conflict and heightened regional tensions. Reuters reported on Monday that only 17 commodity vessels crossed the strait over the weekend, compared with 37 the previous week and a pre-war average of about 125 vessels a day.
The latest Iranian claim comes amid continued tensions between Tehran and Washington over the strategically vital waterway.
