WASHINGTON, D.C. (MCT) — Iran’s military shot down an unmanned American drone over its eastern territory, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported Sunday.
“The spy drone, which has been downed with little damage, was seized by the Iranian armed forces,” Al Alam, Iran’s state television network, quoted an unidentified Iranian military source as saying.
The U.S.-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan appeared to confirm that a drone had crashed in eastern Iran, saying that the aircraft Iranian media were referring to “may be a U.S. unarmed reconnaissance aircraft” that had been sent on a mission over western Afghanistan late last week and been lost. But it didn’t comment on Iranian claims that it had been shot down.
Pentagon officials had no immediate comment. Iran has previously announced that it shot down U.S. and Israeli drones in incidents that didn’t lead to a significant response.
The incident comes at a time of rising tension with Iran over its nuclear enrichment program.
