‘We can do it again’: Iran ready to shoot down more US drones, Navy chief says

Iran is prepared to take down more US spy drones, should they violate its airspace, the Iranian Navy chief said. A similar claim earlier came from a senior commander of the Revolutionary Guard.

“The enemy sent its smartest and most sophisticated patrol aircraft into the forbidden zone and everybody saw that the drone was stopped,” Adm. Hossein Khanzadi said as cited by the Tasnim News Agency. “We say we can do it again and again.”

The remarks made by Khanzadi during a visit of a military facility in Fars province agree with what was said by Brigadier General Amirali Hajizadeh, who heads the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force. The general said Iran was ready to add more exhibits to its collection of US drones destroyed after straying into its airspace. The regular Iranian military and IRGC are two parallel defence structures, each with its own chain of command, troops and responsibilities.

Last week Iran shot down a US Navy RQ-4A Global Hawk surveillance drone. The aircraft was reportedly a BAMS-D experimental model, which is used to test technologies for the Navy’s MQ-4C Triton version.

The two countries disagree on where the engagement took place, with the US insisting that its drone was flying in international space off Iran’s coast rather than over its territory. Washington launched a cyberattack against Iran in retaliation for the downing.

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