Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) says it has shot down a US MQ-9 Reaper drone after the aircraft allegedly violated Iranian airspace over the Strait of Hormuz, according to Iranian state media.
The IRGC said the aircraft was identified as a “hostile drone” and brought down after entering Iranian territory. It warned that it reserves the “legitimate and definite” right to respond to any further violations of the ceasefire by the United States. Iranian state media said the Guard had also fired on a fighter jet and a second drone that entered Iranian airspace, without specifying exactly when the incidents occurred.
The MQ-9 Reaper is a long-endurance American surveillance and strike drone that has been involved in several previous incidents in contested Middle East airspace.
The escalation follows fresh US military strikes near the southern Iranian port of Bandar Abbas. US Central Command said its forces “conducted self-defence strikes in southern Iran” on Monday to protect troops “from threats posed by Iranian forces,” targeting missile sites and boats it said were attempting to lay mines. “US Central Command continues to defend our forces while using restraint during the ongoing ceasefire,” spokesman Capt. Tim Hawkins said.
The exchanges underscore the fragility of the truce that has held intermittently since the February conflict, even as commercial traffic has cautiously resumed through the strait. The first oil and gas tankers began transiting Hormuz again in late May after months of disruption.
The Strait of Hormuz is the conduit for a large share of Sri Lanka’s fuel imports, and renewed military incidents in the waterway carry direct implications for shipping insurance costs and the price of crude reaching Colombo. Washington had not immediately confirmed the loss of the drone.
