Iran’s Downing of US Drone Warded Off Spectre of War: IRGC

Brigadier General Amir-Ali Hajizadeh said speculations of possible military action against Iran proved to be false.

“Intelligence services of friendly countries had issued reports on a possible attack against Iran, but we knew that it wouldn’t happen. It was just a ploy to bring us back to the negotiating table. When the US drone was shot down, the ploy of war proved futile,” said General Hajizadeh, the commander of the Aerospace Division of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC).

He said the Europeans are contributing to Washington’s schemes.

“The Europeans are also part of the United States’ diabolical plan and seek to scare us outside the framework of the Iran nuclear deal, and that’s why they put forward the possibility of an imminent war,” the top general added.

He said they launched a massive war of nerves, suggesting that a war was going to break out against Iran.

“The spectre of war melted away when the American unmanned aerial vehicle was downed. We were confident that if they made the first mistake, we would target their headquarters and bases around us,” he added.

“They knew that they would face our response if took any action, … For the first time, it was proven to the people of the world that the United States’ power was a hollow one,” he said.

On June 20, the IRGC shot down the advanced US-made RQ-4 Global Hawk over Iran’s territorial waters off the coastal province of Hormozgan after the unmanned aircraft breached the country’s airspace on a spying mission.

In a statement, 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.