Iran shoots down US Global Hawk drone amid heightened tensions
- The incident comes amid increasing tensions between Tehran and Washington over Iran’s nuclear programme
“Any such violations of Iran’s borders are strongly condemned ... We warn of the consequences of such illegal and provocative measures,” said ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard shot down the drone on Thursday morning amid heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington over its collapsing nuclear deal with world powers.
US and Iranian officials gave conflicting accounts of the incident: the Guard said it shot down a RQ-4 Global Hawk over Iranian airspace, while a US official said the downing happened over international airspace in the Strait of Hormuz.
The different accounts could not be immediately reconciled.
General Hossein Salami said also that Iran did “not have any intention for war with any country, but we are ready for war”.
His speech was carried live on Iranian state television on Thursday.
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Previously, the US military alleged Iran had fired a missile at another drone last week that was responding to the attack on two oil tankers near the Gulf of Oman. The US blames Iran for the attack on the ships; Tehran denies it was involved.
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Iran recently has quadrupled its production of low-enriched uranium and threatened to boost its enrichment closer to weapons-grade levels, trying to pressure Europe for new terms to the 2015 deal.
In recent weeks, the US has sped an aircraft carrier to the Middle East and deployed additional troops to the tens of thousands already in the region.
In From Yemen, Iranian-allied Houthi rebels have launched bomb-laden drones into neighbouring Saudi Arabia.
All this has raised fears that a miscalculation or further rise in tensions could push the US and Iran into an open conflict, some 40 years after Tehran’s Islamic Revolution.
Meanwhile, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said Trump had been “briefed on the reports of a missile strike in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia”.
“We are closely monitoring the situation and continuing to consult our partners and allies,” Sanders said.
The Houthi’s Al-Masirah satellite news channel claimed the rebels targeted a power plant in Jizan, near the kingdom’s border with Yemen, with a cruise missile.
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Saudi state media and officials did not immediately report a missile strike Thursday.
A Saudi-led coalition has been battling the Houthis since March 2015 in Yemen, the Arab world’s poorest nation now pushed to the brink of famine by the conflict.
In recent weeks, the Houthis have launched a new campaign sending missiles and bomb-laden drones into Saudi Arabia.
Additional reporting by Reuters
