Iran TV Shows Footage Of Downed US Drone (Video)

Iranian television has released video footage of what it claims is a US reconnaissance drone downed by the Iranian Army in the eastern part of the Islamic Republic. The US has said the drone went missing over western Afghanistan late last week.

On Sunday December 4, the Iranian Army’s electronic warfare unit claimed it downed the US RQ-170 Sentinel stealth aircraft which was flying over the Iranian city of Kashmar, some 140 miles (225km) from the Afghan border.

In earlier reports an Iranian military official quoted by the official Islamic Republic News Agency said the aircraft suffered minor damage and was in the possession of the armed forces. He identified the aircraft as an “RQ170″ type drone and said Iranian forces were “fully ready to counter any aggression.”

The semiofficial Fars news agency reported that the U.S. Army RQ-170 aerial vehicle was seized by the Iranian armed forces, reported RFE/RL, adding that Iran’s Al-Alam Arabic language satellite channel said the drone had been downed “a few hours ago” with “slight damage” after it “briefly violated” Iranian territory in the east.