Tehran: Iran’s deputy foreign minister Abbas Araghchi denied Friday having lost any drone recently and hinted that the US could have downed their own ‘by mistake.’
“We have not lost any drone in the Strait of Hormuz nor anywhere else. I am worried that USS Boxer has shot down their own UAS by mistake!” Araghchi tweeted, after the United States claimed it downed an unmanned Iranian aircraft.
We have not lost any drone in the Strait of Hormuz nor anywhere else. I am worried that USS Boxer has shot down their own UAS by mistake!
— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) July 19, 2019
US President Donald Trump said Thursday an American naval vessel downed an Iranian drone that threatened the ship as it was entering the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
Trump announced that the USS Boxer, an amphibious assault ship, ‘took defensive action’ against the Iranian aircraft as it was ‘threatening the safety of the ship and the ship’s crew.’
The drone was ‘immediately destroyed’ after it approached within 1,000 yards (914 meters) of the Boxer, Trump said.
Tehran’s top diplomat, Mohammad Javad Zarif, told reporters Thursday he had “no information about losing a drone today,” as he arrived at the United Nations headquarters in New York.
The apparent confrontation between the two foes comes after Tehran last month shot down an American surveillance drone it said was flying in its airspace, a claim denied by the United States.
PTI
