Iran denies reports US downed its drone

Iran’s top military spokesman said all the country’s drones had returned safely to base, Reuters reported the semi-official Tasnim news agency saying today, after President Donald Trump said a US Navy ship had “destroyed” one.

“All drones belonging to Iran in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz … returned safely to their bases after their mission of identification and control, and there is no report of any operational response by USS Boxer,” Abolfazl Shekarchi, a senior armed forces spokesman, was quoted as saying by Tasnim.

Trump said yesterday that the drone had flown to within 1,000 yards (914 metres) of the US warship Boxer and had ignored “multiple calls to stand down” in the latest episode to stir tensions in the Gulf. He called on other countries to condemn Iran and protect their own ships.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi today also denied that Iran had lost a drone.

“We have not lost any drone in the Strait of Hormuz nor anywhere else. I am worried that USS Boxer has shot down their own UAS [Unmanned Aerial System] by mistake!” Araqchi said on Twitter.

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