The Pentagon has just announced that one of its unarmed, unmanned MQ-1 Predator drones was fired upon by Iranian aircraft whilst performing routine surveillance in international waters, 16 nautical miles off the Iranian coast.
George Little, a spokesman for the Pentagon, stated, "we believe this is the first time an unmanned aircraft has been shot at over international waters in the Arabian Gulf." The drone wasn't hit and managed to return to is base safely.
The attack occurred on the 1st of November, but hasn't been reported until now due to the fact that the Pentagon doesn't disclose details about classified surveillance missions.
The attack was carried out by two Iranian Sukhoi Su-25 ground attack planes. Little explained that the drone was fired upon and pursued for several miles. "Our working assumption is that they fired to take it down." Although he said that "you'll have to ask the Iranians why they engaged in this action."
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"We have communicated to the Iranians that we will continue to conduct surveillance flights over international waters over the Arabian Gulf consistent with long-standing practice," he said.
International tensions in the Gulf of Persia are already high due to the West's sanctions against Iran, it remains to be seen if this incident will escalate the situation further, or is a sign that top is about to blow in the region.
By. Joao Peixe of Oilprice.com
Joao is a writer for Oilprice.com More
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Comments
Iran Air Flight 655 was a civilian jet airliner shot down by U.S. missiles on 3 July 1988 as it flew over the Strait of Hormuz at the end of the Iran–Iraq War. The aircraft, an Airbus A300B2-203 operated by Iran Air, was flying from Bandar Abbas, Iran to Dubai, United Arab Emirates. While flying in Iranian airspace over Iran's territorial waters in the Persian Gulf on its usual flight path, it was destroyed by the United States Navy guided missile cruiser USS Vincennes (CG-49). All 290 onboard including 66 children and 16 crew perished.[1] The incident is ranked ninth among the deadliest disasters in aviation history. It was the highest death toll of any aviation incident in the Indian Ocean and the highest death toll of any incident involving an Airbus A300 anywhere in the world.[citation needed] The Vincennes had entered Iranian territorial waters after one of its helicopters drew warning fire from Iranian speedboats operating within Iranian territorial limits.
Their say that the spy drone when shot was flying over international waters is less trustable.