Iran shoots down American drone
(VOVWORLD) - Both the US and Iran said Thursday that Iranian forces had shot down an American military surveillance drone, but the two sides offered conflicting details on the incident, which is likely to further escalate already heightened tensions in the Middle East.
A US official told the AP and Reuters news agencies that a US Navy MQ-4C Triton drone was hit by an Iranian surface-to-air missile in international airspace over the Strait of Hormuz. Iran, however, said its elite Revolutionary Guard shot down an RQ-4 Global Hawk drone as it flew over Iran. Iran's Foreign Ministry issued a condemnation of the purported violation of its airspace and warned of a strong reaction to what it called a "provocative" act by the US. The US military has denied that any of its aircraft were operating over Iran at the time.