The incident took place on 20 June, when Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed that they had downed a US surveillance drone after it violated Iranian airspace. Washington insists that the unmanned aerial vehicle was downed over international waters.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has applauded the Islamic Republic's defence capability, while commenting on the downing of a US surveillance drone by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in June.
“First, we hit an American drone, second, we found it on Iranian radar, third we hit it with our own missile. Iran only shoots aggressors which can be drones, aircraft, marine vessels,” Rouhani told reporters in Tehran on Wednesday.
Last month, he warned that if another American drone crossed the borders of the Islamic Republic, it would also be downed.
Rouhani was echoed by Brigadier General Gholamreza Jalali, head of Iran's Civil Defence Organisation, who pointed out that the downing of the US unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) indicated Tehran's determination to defend its borders.
“Iran's deterrence power, especially in the military field, foiled their intimidation plots and games as destruction of an expensive spy drone by an indigenised [Iranian-made] weapon showed that Iran's military can overcome the enemy. Iran does not joke with anyone on defending itself,” Jalali said on Wednesday, in an apparent nod to the US.
On 20 June, the IRGC said that that it had brought down a US Northrop…
