Iran Claims Foreign Reconnaissance Plane Warned Off In Persian Gulf

The Iranian military says it launched a drone to warn off a reconnaissance plane trying to approach Iranian war games near the Persian Gulf.

Fars News Agency, affiliated to the Revolutionary Guard, said Saturday that the warning procedure was carried out by Iranian drone Karrar; however, it did not specify the nationality of the reconnaissance aircraft.

The US State Department has refused to comment on the report referring questions to the Pentagon, which declined to comment as well, according to Reuters.

Iran’s military began to test new attack drones in the coastal area of the Gulf of Oman and near the strategic Strait of Hormuz since Thursday as part of its annual drills.

“During the exercises, a P-8 manned intelligence aircraft belonging to extra-regional forces, which had tried to reduce altitude to collect more accurate information from the exercise area, was forced to leave the area by the firing of a Karrar drone by (Iran's) air defense,” Fars reported.

Last week, top Iranian military official General Mohammad Bagheri said the Islamic Republic will continue to develop drones according to its interests and Tehran will cooperate with other countries in this regard.

According to IRNA, Chief of General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces said the country’s UAVs are accurate enough to respond to any threat endangering its interests.

Bagheri, however, did not name any specific country with which the Islamic Republic is cooperating to develop UAVs.