US warns Iran after failed attack on drone over Gulf
Washington and Tehran warn each other after failed attack by two warplanes on unarmed surveillance aircraft
Tehran and Washington warned each other yesterday after officials on both sides confirmed Iranian warplanes shot at a US military surveillance drone flying over the Persian Gulf near Iran last week.
Deputy chief of Iran's armed forces, Brigadier General Masoud Jazayeri, said it would deal decisively with any foreign encroachment while Pentagon officials said the US sent Iran a warning via diplomatic channels, saying it would defend its military assets and would keep sending aircraft on such surveillance operations.
Pentagon spokesman George Little said on Tuesday the Iranian Su-25 Frogfoot fighters fired at the drone on November 1 but did not hit it. "They intercepted the aircraft and fired multiple rounds," Little said.
Confirming the attack, Iran's defence minister Ahmad Vahidi said: "Last week an anonymous plane entered the space over the territorial waters of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the Persian Gulf area which, due to the timely, clever and decisive action of our armed forces, was forced to flee."
It was unclear whether the Iranians intended to warn off the unmanned drone but Little said: "Our working assumption is that they fired to take it down."
The drone was "never in Iranian airspace" and came under fire off the Iranian coast over international waters, Little said.
