Azernews.Az

Ulviyya Poladova

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Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Air Defense Forces have shot down a U.S.-made MQ-1 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) over the Strait of Hormuz, the IRGC said.

According to the statement, the drone was tracked and destroyed using a new air defense system operated by the IRGC Aerospace Force.

The IRGC noted that the MQ-1 UAV was known for completing 2,000 flight hours in Afghanistan and had been removed from the U.S. military and Marine Corps arsenals years ago, after being replaced by the MQ-9. The statement claimed that the United States had been forced to resume using MQ-1 drones because many of its MQ-9 UAVs had been shot down.

It should be noted that the latest escalation in U.S.-Iran relations began on July 8. On that day, U.S. forces carried out several rounds of strikes on Iranian territory, reportedly in response to an attack on a commercial vessel in the Strait of Hormuz, following the signing of a memorandum between Washington and Tehran.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced the same day that the ceasefire with Iran had been terminated. In response, Tehran began launching strikes against U.S. facilities located in Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Oman.