Iranian military aircrafts fired at an unarmed U.S. Air Force Predator drone involved in a surveillance mission over international waters in the Persian Gulf; however, the Predator was not hit, the Pentagon said.
Raising fresh concerns over the Iranian military aggression in the politically and strategically crucial Gulf oil shipping lanes, the news first reported on CNN revealed that two Iranian Su-25 fighter jets shot at the U.S. drone on Nov. 1. The drone was on routine maritime surveillance over the international waters east of Kuwait, 16 miles off the coast of Iran, U.S. officials said.
"Our aircraft was never in Iranian airspace. It was always flying in international air space. The recognized limit is 12 nautical miles off the coast and we never entered the 12 nautical mile limit," Pentagon Press Secretary George Little was quoted as saying to CNN after the news outlet reported the incident.
Little said that the United States believes it was the first time an unmanned aircraft was shot at by the Iranians in international waters over the Gulf. He said Pentagon did not make the attack public because surveillance missions are classified and that he is announcing it because some news reports have already revealed it.
"The MQ-1 was not hit and the drone returned to base unharmed," Little said. "The United States has communicated to the Iranians that we will continue to conduct surveillance flights over international waters over the Arabian Gulf, consistent with long-standing practice and our commitment to the security of the region," he said.
There were reports that in last December, Iranian forces had shot down a U.S. drone which it claims, was in Iranian air space.
