US UAV Captured by Iran

Iranian allegations affirmed by US officials

The United States government is acknowledging the downing of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in eastern Iran after Iran made the claim on Sunday. Iran has responded with the warning that they will not tolerate enemy plane reconnaissance within or outside of their borders.

UAV information and questions

The US acknowledged that a UAV had been flying a mission over western Afghanistan when they lost control of the UAV and it drifted over into Iranian territory. While the US did not say what kind of UAV it was, Iran officials claimed it was a RQ-170 Sentinel; this is a stealth drone which has been used extensively in Afghanistan, most notably in the raid which killed Osama bin Laden. Despite claims by Iran that it was shot down, US officials believe that it crashed due to a technical malfunction. Iran claims that the craft received minor damage when they recovered it.

Iranian response

Iran gave a warning that their reaction to this will not be limited to their borders.

Iran has made previous claims to US spy drones operating within their borders, though this is the first one which has received any confirmation by the US. Worries are if the claim by Iran that the UAV was an RQ-170 Sentinel, then the Iranian military will be able to produce countermeasures to the stealth technology.

The drone strike is the latest in a series of political confrontations between Iran and the West since the crackdown on its nuclear program.