19th July, 2019
Iran on Friday denied the United States claim that it downed one of its drones, saying all Iranian aircraft were accounted for and suggested instead that America may have accidentally hit its own machine.
The latest incident in the strategic Strait of Hormuz comes amid soaring tensions between the two foes, with Washington already reeling from Iran shooting down one of its drones last month.
US President Donald Trump said an American naval vessel downed an Iranian drone on Thursday that threatened the ship as it was entering the Strait — a claim vehemently denied by Tehran.
Iran’s armed forces dismissed Trump’s assertion as “baseless and delusional” while admitting one of their drones was flying near the US ship.
“All of (Iran’s) drones… have safely returned to their bases,” said armed forces spokesman Brigadier General Abolfazl Shekarchi.
“There have been no reports of a confrontation with the American USS Boxer” naval vessel, he added, quoted by Tasnim news agency.
The Revolutionary Guards said they will “soon” publish photos taken by one of their drones of the USS Boxer.
Images were transmitted to base “before and even after the time Americans claim” the drone was destroyed, according to a statement on the force’s Sepahnews website.
The Pentagon said the ship “was in international waters” when a drone approached at approximately 10:00 am local time (0530 GMT).
Trump said Thursday the USS Boxer “took defensive action” against an Iranian aircraft as it was “threatening the safety” of the vessel and its crew.
But Iran’s deputy foreign minister Abbas Araghchi quipped that the United States may have actually downed one of its own aircraft.
“I am worried that USS Boxer has shot down their own (drone) by mistake!” Abbas Araghchi tweeted Friday.
The confrontation comes after Tehran in June shot down an American surveillance drone it said was flying in its airspace, a claim denied by the United States.
Trump said he called off retaliatory strikes at the last minute following the incident.
Iran has in turn refuted US accusations that it was behind a series of recent tanker attacks off the United Arab Emirates coast and the Gulf of Oman.
The tanker troubles further intensified on July 4, when Gibraltar detained an Iranian vessel with the help of British Royal Marines.
Gibraltar’s Supreme Court ruled on Friday that the Grace 1 supertanker can be detained for 30 more days.