Downed US Drone Located 4 Miles inside Iranian Territory: Official
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The head of the Iranian Armed Forces’ Geographical Organization said the intruding US spy drone downed by the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) was found to be four miles (about 7 kilometers) inside the country's territorial waters after being shot down.
“After the shooting down of the drone, initial actions were taken and its location was identified,” Brigadier General Majid Fakhri said on Tuesday.
“The drone was definitely in the waters of Iran as reports show that it was four miles or more than seven kilometers inside the Iranian territorial waters,” he added.
The IRGC said on Thursday that a US spy drone that violated the Iranian territorial airspace in the early hours of the day was shot down by the IRGC Aerospace Force’s air defense unit near the Kooh-e-Mobarak region in the southern province of Hormozgan.
The intruding drone was reportedly shot by Iran’s homegrown air defense missile system “Khordad-3rd”.
In comments made a few hours after the incident, IRGC Commander Major General Hossein Salami said the shooting down of the US aircraft had a straightforward message that any foreign intrusion into Iran’s sovereign territories would draw a crushing response.
“The downing of the US drone had an explicit, decisive and clear message that defenders of the Islamic Iran’s borders will show decisive and knockout reactions to aggression against this territory by any alien,” he said.
“Borders are our redline, and any enemy violating these borders will not go back,” the commander underlined.
He also made it clear that Iran is not seeking war with any country but is fully prepared for any confrontation. “Today’s incident was a clear sign of such a precise message.”
The general also reminded the enemies that the only way for them to remain safe is to respect Iran’s territorial integrity, national security and vital interests.
