OMM Newsroom
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said Monday it had downed two US drones south of Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz, Anadolu Agency reported, citing the semi-official Tasnim news agency.
Tasnim said the IRGC Aerospace Force used electronic warfare systems against the two MQM-170 drones. The reported number of aircraft of that type captured by Iranian forces has now reached four.
The operation prevented the drones from completing their missions, Tasnim reported. It gave no further operational details.
The announcement follows two similar statements from Iran last week. On Friday, the state-run IRNA news agency reported that the IRGC Aerospace Force had downed an MQM-170 drone over Qeshm Island using electronic warfare systems.
A day earlier, the IRGC Navy said it had taken control of another drone of the same type in the western Strait of Hormuz and landed it intact. The US military rejected Iran’s account of Thursday’s incident.
The latest report comes as Tehran and Washington continue indirect diplomatic contacts. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said Monday that the two countries were exchanging messages through mediators.
Baqaei also confirmed that Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi had travelled to Doha to facilitate the exchanges through Qatari mediation.
The US and Israel began attacks against Iran on Feb. 28. Tehran retaliated by targeting Israel and US assets in the region before a ceasefire agreement was reached in April.
The US and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding on freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz on June 18, but its implementation stalled amid disagreements over security in the strait.
