IRGC claims downing of a U.S. MQ-9 drone over Iran’s Qeshm island

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) claimed on Wednesday it had downed a U.S. MQ-9 drone over Iranian airspace, in a statement carried by the semi-official Iranian agency Tasnim. According to the statement, the IRGC’s advanced air defense system intercepted and destroyed the drone at 2:29 in the morning local time (22:59 GMT) in the skies over Qeshm island, at the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz.

The claim comes just a day after the IRGC said it had downed two other U.S. MQ-1 drones near Hormuz, bringing the claimed number of downed U.S. drones in recent days to four — although neither side has provided independent evidence. The Pentagon and the U.S. CENTCOM command had not yet reacted to the latest claim at the time of publication.

The MQ-9 Reaper is a long-range combat and reconnaissance drone, widely used by U.S. forces for surveillance over conflict zones. Any such loss would be a blow to U.S. intelligence coverage over the Strait of Hormuz, where maritime traffic has fallen to historically low levels as the blockade and mutual strikes continue.

The escalation of downed-drone claims matches a week of sharp confrontation: the U.S. has tightened the blockade against Iran and is helping Saudi forces defend Hormuz, while Tehran has warned it will respond to attacks with its entire arsenal.

Source: Al Jazeera