Iran Shoots Down American Drone
Iran has shot down a US drone, one that the Revolutionary Guards say was flying over Southern Iran. The US has confirmed the drone was shot down, but said it was over international waters.
This is the second attack on a American drone in a week, last Thursday Iran shot at a American drone as it was overflying the ships that were attacked, they were surveilling the ships to watch for more attacks, Iran failed to down the
Sepah News, the website of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), said the “spy” drone was brought down over the southern Iranian province of Hormozgan, which is on the Gulf.
A U.S. official said the drone was a U.S. Navy MQ-4C Triton and that it had been shot down in international air space over the Strait of Hormuz, through which about a third of the world’s seaborne oil exits the Gulf..
The question now is if this drone was over international waters, something the US is going over now, or if it could have had a failure of navigation and inadvertently strayed over Iranian air space. If it was over international waters, there is little doubt the US will respond to an attack on its military, the question will be where and how big of a response?
World oil prices jumped $3.00 a barrel over the news, a word already jittery from the escalating tension between Tehran and Washington, one that seems to be getting worse, not better.
According to FOX, a U.S. official said the drone was a U.S. Navy MQ-4C Triton and that it had been shot down in international air space over the Strait of Hormuz, through which about a third of the world’s seaborne oil exits the Gulf.
A Revolutionary Guards statement said the drone’s identification transponder had been switched off “in violation of aviation rules and was moving in full secrecy” when it was downed, Iranian state broadcaster IRIB reported.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry condemned what it called a violation of Iranian air space by the drone and warned of the consequences of such “illegal and provocative” measures.
Iran’s Message:
Brigadier General Hossein Salami, commander in chief of the Revolutionary Guards, warned against any aggression and said the drone’s downing carried a “clear message” to Iran’s arch-enemy.
“Our air space is our red line and Iran has always responded and will continue to respond strongly to any country that violates our air space,” Ali Shamkhani, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, told Iran’s Tasnim news agency.
The Drone
The drone shot down was the Northrop Grumman RQ-4N Triton, the Naval version of the RQ-4N Global Hawk. These drones are the most sophisticated in the US arsenal, each costing over $130 million. The navy at this time has 4 of these drones, although an additional 64 are on order.
US Response
So far there has been no word of a US response, but one can assume that Washington has ongoing meeting over how to respond to this, when they do, we will pass it on to you.
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