Iran’s IRGC force shoots down intruding US spy drone

Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has shot down an intruding American spy drone in the country’s southern coastal province of Hormozgan.

In a statement issued early Thursday, the IRGC said the US-made Global Hawk surveillance drone was brought down by its Air Force near the Kouh-e Mobarak region — which sits in the central district of Jask County — after the aircraft violated Iranian airspace.

https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2019/06/20/598942/Iran-IRGC-US-spy-drone

The report comes amid increased tensions between Iran and the US, with Washington announcing a new deployment of additional forces to the Middle East, including a Patriot missile battalion, drones and manned surveillance aircraft.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps reportedly shot down a US Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk spy drone flying over Hormuzgan province, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.

The drone was downed when it entered Iranian airspace near the Kouhmobarak district in southern Iran's Hormuzgan province, according to IRNA.

There has been no confirmation from US military, according to AP.

On Monday US Acting Secretary of Defence Patrick Shanahan said in a statement that the Pentagon has authorized the deployment of an additional 1,000 troops for defensive purposes "to address air, naval, and ground-based threats in the Middle East".

Tensions in the Gulf area escalated over the past week as a number of oil tankers from various nations got attacked there and in the neighboring Gulf of Oman. The United States and its regional allies claimed that Iran had a role in the incidents, while Tehran has denied the allegations.

In one of its recent claims voiced last week, Washington said the IRGC allegedly attempted to down one of its drones prior to attacking the vessels in the Gulf of Oman but failed to reach its target.

https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201906201075973507-irgc-claims-us-spy-drone-shot-down-over-hormuzgan-province—report/