Iran Releases First Footage of Downing US Spy Drone

Iran has released the first footage of the IRGC's shoot-down of an intrusive US drone early Thursday above the Persian Gulf.

The US Global Hawk (RQ-4) drone was shot down on Thursday morning in an area close to Kuhmobarak village in Iran’s Hormozgan province, near the Persian Gulf waters.

The IRGC later disclosed more information about the drone it brought down, including the aircraft’s itinerary and its unlawful and stealth maneuvering in Iran’s sky.

In a statement, the IRGC said the ‘Global Hawk’ spy drone took off from a US military base in south of the Persian Gulf at 19:44 GMT on Wednesday (00:14 am local time on Thursday), switched off all of its communication systems, and flew towards the port city of Chabahar in south-eastern Iran via the Strait of Hormuz in maximum stealth.

When flying back to the western part of the region, the unmanned plane violated the Iranian airspace near the Strait of Hormuz and began to spy on Iran and collect information, the statement added.

The IRGC Aerospace Force’s air defense unit shot down the intruding drone in Iran’s airspace at 23:35 GMT, it noted.

The doomed aircraft, an RQ-4C Global Hawk, is one of the world’s most advanced spy drones that costs more than $130 million to build.

The intruding drone was reportedly shot by Iran’s homegrown air defense missile system “3rd of Khordad”.

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