Tehran:
Iran has claimed to have shot down a US MQ-9 drone and fired at a fighter jet that entered Iranian airspace. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said Iranian forces “fired upon an RQ-4 drone and an intruding F-35 fighter jet”, according to a report by Al Jazeera.
The statement quoted in the report did not specify when the incidents took place.
However, the Guards said it reserved the “legitimate and definite” right to retaliate against any ceasefire violations by the US.
The incident comes after US forces attacked missile sites in southern Iran and boats trying to lay mines on Monday. According to US Central Command, “US forces conducted self-defence strikes in southern Iran today to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces.”
It gave no details of the attacks and said only that the targets included missile launch sites and boats trying to “emplace mines.”
The latest aggression threatened an already fragile ceasefire that began April 8 as the United States and Iran struggle to reach an accord to end a war that has rattled the global economy with a severe disruption of energy flows.
Hopes for an accord in recent days were dealt another blow when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to “crush” Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon. Iran has demanded that any peace accord apply to the fighting in Lebanon as well.
