Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced on Monday that its air defense forces shot down an American MQ-9 Reaper drone over the Strait of Hormuz, causing the unmanned aircraft to crash into Persian Gulf waters.
According to a statement issued by the IRGC public relations office via Iran’s Mehr News Agency, the long-range US drone was targeted early Monday morning by missile fire from the force’s modern air defense units. The statement commended the continued public support of the Iranian people as a cornerstone of the nation's military efforts.
The downing follows a sharp escalation in the strategic waterway after US forces carried out strikes on Sunday against two Iranian missile launchers located on Larak Island. Those strikes marked the first direct US action on Iranian territory since late July, targeting systems that US officials alleged were being prepped to launch sea mine-carrying rockets into vital shipping lanes.
The IRGC had reported both military and civilian casualties from the Larak Island operation and vowed retaliatory action, with initial Iranian media reports indicating that the US strikes were executed using unmanned aerial vehicles. Neither the US Department of Defense nor US Central Command has issued an immediate formal response regarding the downing of the MQ-9 Reaper.
