IRAN 'SHOOTS DOWN' SURVEILLANCE DRONE NEAR IRAQ BORDER

Tehran, 8 Dzulqa’dah 1436/23 August 2015 (MINA) – Iran says it has shot down a surveillance drone in the western province of Kermanshah near the Iraq border, the IRNA news agency has reported.

IRNA on Saturday quoted a commander of air defence in Kermanshah as saying that the unknown drone was detected in Iranian air space several days ago and was shot down.

Colonel Farzad Fereydouni told IRNA that the downed drone was designed only for reconnaissance missions, but he did not provide further details of the incident or the origin of the drone.

“After spotting the drone, our air defence system missiles shot it down,” Fereydouni said, Al Jazeera quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

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In recent years, Iran has downed US and Israeli surveillance drones.

Asked if it belonged to the United States, a spokesman for US Central Command was quoted by the Reuters news agency as saying: “The Department of Defence can confirm all of its remotely piloted aircraft are accounted for.”

Fereydouni said Iran over the past year had issued warnings to 12 unidentified planes that subsequently left Iranian air space. (T/P001/R03)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)