TEHRAN: The US drone which Iran said it had brought down penetrated 250 kilometres (150 miles) inside the Islamic republic's air space, state television's website reported on Friday.
In a letter of protest to the United Nations, the government said "the American RQ-170 spy plane violated 250 kilometres inside Iranian airspace before confronting the reaction of Iran's armed forces," the website reported.
"Provocative and secret actions by the American government against the Islamic republic in recent months" have been on the increase, it charged.
It said Tehran had lodged "a strong protest against this violation of international rules by the US government" and warned against any "repetition of such actions."
Iran called for the United Nations to condemn "this violation," in the letter addressed to the UN secretary general as well as the presidents of the Security Council and General Assembly.
State television on Thursday aired footage of what it said was the captured drone, showing what appeared to be an RQ-170 Sentinel aircraft with little visible damage.
The Pentagon said American experts were analysing the footage.
The footage showed a cream-coloured aircraft being examined by two commanders of Tehran's elite Revolutionary Guard Corps, who are in charge of the country's air defences.
Aerospace unit Brigadier General Amir-Ali Hajizadeh said the drone had been captured through a cyber attack. "It fell into the trap of (the Guards) electronic warfare unit who then managed to land it with minimum damage," he said.
A leading conservative MP, Mohammad Kossari, on Friday delivered a stern warning of retaliation in case of further violations.
"Iran will target all US military bases around the world," said the deputy head of parliament's foreign affairs commission, quoted by Fars news agency. Its response would be "terrifying."
The RQ-170 Sentinel is a high-altitude stealth reconnaissance drone made by Lockheed Martin whose existence was exposed in 2009 by specialised reviews and later confirmed by the US Air Force in 2010.
Iranian media said on December 4 that the unmanned aerial vehicle was shot down after making an incursion into the airspace of eastern Iran, which borders Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The crash came at a time of heightened political tension over Iran's nuclear programme, with speculation rife that Israel is mulling air strikes against Iranian atomic facilities, with or without US backing.
COMMENTS (17)
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@JustAnotherPakistani: So RQ170 the most secret weapon of the US was a kite that went down to Irani Land by direction of the air? Get some education.
Well at least America will lose its monopoly over stealth technology and will have to work harder and spend even more money to maintain its lead. Stealth aircraft are something even the American and Israelis dont have.
Beware of American drones bearing gifts. A classic case of purposefully and conveniently supplied misinformation.
*Dear Mr. Editor, the so called "Footage" is not real here- it is an artist's rendition of B-2 Bomber of USA. It is no way a drone. Please correct your gliche. *
@Ali-wali:
Iran has some very good minds but speculating that they hacked the electronics of this stealth machine and got it to land is a bit far-fetched.
Of course I can't think of any other way it would have landed in perfect condition. According to the video, there is not even a stratch on the aircraft. An internal malfunction seems to be the only possibility. But it suprises me that if they had been a malfunction there would not be a way to cause it to self-destruct.
Flights from Beijing and Moscow to Tehran are fully booked this week, schools in both cities are taking turn to see the exhibit, now the question, how it came down from 50000 ft to the ground in one piece, do not you think free fall from 100 feet will turn this thing into mangled mess! According to media reports Iranians laid an electronic ambush on this high tech drone, and landed it deep inside their teritory, ah someone failed to tell Iranians that this ugly aeroplane is stealth. Hacking is another word people are using or cracking, nothing to do with christmas crackers I imagine.Not sure if it is good or bad news, next year your four year old boy can buy his own stealth toy.
Russia and China have announced their interests in taking a look at the trophy displayed in Teheran. In light of the international sanctions Iran can capitalise on it and strike deals with China and Russia.
@Umer if you believe the drone was shot down by Iran I have beach front property for sale in Afghanistan. The drone had a malfunction, ran out of fuel and landed in Iran. If it had been shot down it would have been in pieces on the ground. On a more sobering note this does indicate an escalation in covert/overt operations against the Islamic republic. I, for one, am not looking forward to a $200.00 barrel of oil.
Obviously it was not shot down. The video images show the aircraft is excellent condition!
I suspect it malfunctioned and landed. A real coup no doubt and the Chinese and Russians are dying to get their hands on it.
News just in, it was an error by the handler of the drone. He landed the drone in one of the Iranian airfields !! LOL !!!
What an embarassment for US! Now they will say its fake. Don't underestimate any country because you never know.......
@antanu:
why do you always have to comment and make fun. Don't you have any Indian news paper sites to post your lol comments?
when both sides' interests usually consist of expressing mostly disinformation and/or propaganda, who really knows who is telling the truth? (Everybody already knows and understands how this works....for Iran as well as for the U.S.)
Pakistan govt shud take some lesson from Iran in confronting the Americans & take up the issue to UN.......
Surely this is a clear violation of Iranian air space and could be interpreted as act of war. You cannot excuse this as it was downed 250 km inside air space.
Compare this to an alleged plot by Iran using a used car salesman to assassinate a Saudi Ambassador in US for which US has not produced any evidence. This received condemnation in UN.
Will the US incursion receive the same condemnation..I'm not holding my breath!
LOL ......Iran is complaining with UN...as if UN is an independent body...UN means US... nothing more...dont waste your time