The United States is yet to show credible evidence which demonstrates that they shot down an Iranian drone over the Strait of Hormuz. Meanwhile, as already reported by EurAsian Times, Tehran states that all the UAVs in the Persian Gulf and in the Strait of Hormuz belonging to Iran (despite the American claims) have returned to their bases.
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Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi tweeted – We have not lost any drone in the Strait of Hormuz nor anywhere else. I am worried that USS Boxer has shot down their own UAV by mistake!
On July 19, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) distributed footage which completely refutes Donald Trump’s statement that an American ship shot down an Iranian UAV.
Iranian drones continuously monitor US activities in the Strait of Hormuz. On July 18, the President of the United States announced that they had managed to shoot down an Iranian drone. The IRGC, on the contrary, claims that the drone (monitoring the USS Boxer) successfully completed the mission and returned to the base.
However, the White House insists on its version. According to Reuters, citing a representative of the US administration, Washington has “clear evidence” that it was the Iranian unmanned aerial vehicle that was shot down by the United States. At the same time, the official warned that the Iranian drones “will be shot down again if they decide to approach the US ships.”
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Note that such warnings by the United States might sound intimidating but Washington is yet to inspire confidence, given that they have not yet proved that they actually shot down an Iranian drone.
Earlier, on June 20 Iran downed a latest, state-of-art American reconnaissance drone RQ-4 Global Hawk. US drone then violated Iranian airspace in the Strait of Hormuz, while gathering intelligence.
Earlier, the US Marines claimed to have jammed an Iranian drone in the Gulf of Hormuz and bringing the aircraft down and destroying it. This was immediately refuted by Iran.
President Donald Trump earlier told reporters at the White House that the USS Boxer — an amphibious assault ship —“took defensive action” against the Iranian drone that had “closed into a very, very near distance, approximately 1,000 yards.”