US denies Iran shot down an unmanned drone

Spokesman for the US navy in the Gulf denies losing any drones, after Iran claimed to have captured a US spy plane.

DUBAI: A spokesperson for the US Fifth Fleet based in the Gulf denied reports on Tuesday that the American navy has lost a drone, shortly after Iran claimed it had captured a small unmanned US spy plane over Gulf waters.

"All our active unmanned aerial vehicles working here have been accounted for," US 5th spokesperson Commander Jason Salata told AFP.

"Nothing lost recently, in months," in the area of operation for the Fifth Fleet, which stretches from the Gulf to the Horn of Africa, he said.

Salata said all of the Fifth Fleet's operations in the Gulf "are in compliance with international law," implying that any flights conducted were outside of Iranian airspace.

Earlier Tuesday, Iran claimed to have captured a ScanEagle drone, a small unamanned surveillance aircraft often used by the US Navy.

It said its Revolutionary Guards' naval arm caught the drone in Iranian airspace over Gulf waters, but gave no details how the vehicle was captured, nor exactly where or when.

Earlier in November, two Iranian fighter jets shot down an unarmed US over the Persian Gulf in Kuwaiti airspace.

Last year, Iran had downed a stealth drone belonging to the US.