Iran claims it has U.S. drone, U.S. says none missing
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran claimed Tuesday it had captured a U.S. drone after it entered Iranian airspace over the Persian Gulf- even showing an image of a purportedly downed craft on state TV - but the U.S. Navy said all its unmanned aircraft in the region were "fully accounted for."
The conflicting accounts still leave the possibility that the drone claimed by Iran, a Boeing-designed ScanEagle, could have been plucked from the sea in the past and unveiled for maximum effect following escalating tensions over U.S. surveillance missions in the Gulf.
Other countries in the region - such as the United Arab Emirates - also have ScanEagle drones in their fleets.
Cmdr. Jason Salata, a spokesman for the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet in Bahrain, said ScanEagles operated by the Navy "have been lost into the water" over the years, but there is no "record of that occurring most recently."
The Iranian announcement did not give details on the time or location of the claimed drone capture.
It's certain, however, to be portrayed by Tehran as another bold challenge to U.S. reconnaissance efforts in the region. Last month, the Pentagon said a drone came under Iranian fire in the Gulf but was not harmed. A year ago, Iran managed to bring down an unmanned CIA spy drone possibly coming from Afghanistan.
"The U.S. Navy has fully accounted for all unmanned air vehicles operating in the Middle East region," said Salata. "Our operations in the Gulf are confined to internationally recognized waters and airspace."
Iran claimed it captured the drone after it entered Iranian airspace. A report on state TV quoted the navy chief of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard, Gen. Ali Fadavi, as saying the Iranian forces caught the "intruding" drone, which had apparently taken off from a U.S. aircraft carrier.
"The U.S. drone, which was conducting a reconnaissance flight and gathering data over the Persian Gulf in the past few days, was captured by the Guard's navy air defense unit as soon as it entered Iranian airspace," Fadavi said. "Such drones usually take off from large warships."
Al-Alam, the Iranian state TV's Arabic-language channel, showed two Guard commanders examining what appeared to be an intact ScanEagle drone. It was not immediately clear if that was the same drone Iran claimed to have captured.
In the footage, the two men then point to a huge map of the Persian Gulf in the background, showing the drone's alleged path of entry into Iranian airspace.
"We shall trample on the U.S," was printed over the map, next to the Guard's coat-of-arms.
If true, the seizure of the drone would be the third reported incident involving Iran and U.S. drones in the past two years.
Last month, Iran claimed that a U.S. drone had violated its airspace. Pentagon said the unmanned aircraft came under fire - at least twice but was not hit - and that the Predator was over international waters.
The Nov. 1 shooting in the Gulf was unprecedented, and further escalated tensions between the United States and Iran, which is under international sanctions over its suspect nuclear program. Tehran denies it's pursuing a nuclear weapon and insists its program is for peaceful purposes only.
In late 2011, Iran claimed it brought down a CIA spy drone after it entered Iranian airspace from its eastern borders with Afghanistan and Pakistan. The RQ-170 Sentinel drone, which is equipped with stealth technology, was captured almost intact. Tehran later said it recovered data from the top-secret drone.
In the case of the Sentinel, after initially saying only that a drone had been lost near the Afghan-Iran border, American officials eventually confirmed it had been monitoring Iran's military and nuclear facilities. Washington asked for it back but Iran refused, and instead released photos of Iranian officials studying the aircraft.
The U.S and its allies believe Iran is pursuing a nuclear weapon. Iran denies the charge, saying its nuclear activities are for peaceful purposes only, such as power generation and cancer treatment.
Iran meanwhile, has claimed advanced in drone technology.
In November, Iranian media reported that the country had produced a domestically-made drone capable of hovering. Earlier, Iran said it obtained images of sensitive Israeli bases taken by a drone that was launched by Lebanon's Hezbollah and downed by Israel.
Iran also claimed other drones made dozens of apparently undetected flights into Israeli airspace from Lebanon in recent years. Israel has rejected the Iranian assertions.
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Murphy reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
The conflicting accounts still leave the possibility that the drone claimed by Iran, a Boeing-designed ScanEagle, could have been plucked from the sea in the past and unveiled for maximum effect following escalating tensions over U.S. surveillance missions in the Gulf.
Other countries in the region - such as the United Arab Emirates - also have ScanEagle drones in their fleets.
Cmdr. Jason Salata, a spokesman for the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet in Bahrain, said ScanEagles operated by the Navy "have been lost into the water" over the years, but there is no "record of that occurring most recently."
The Iranian announcement did not give details on the time or location of the claimed drone capture.
It's certain, however, to be portrayed by Tehran as another bold challenge to U.S. reconnaissance efforts in the region. Last month, the Pentagon said a drone came under Iranian fire in the Gulf but was not harmed. A year ago, Iran managed to bring down an unmanned CIA spy drone possibly coming from Afghanistan.
"The U.S. Navy has fully accounted for all unmanned air vehicles operating in the Middle East region," said Salata. "Our operations in the Gulf are confined to internationally recognized waters and airspace."
Iran claimed it captured the drone after it entered Iranian airspace. A report on state TV quoted the navy chief of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard, Gen. Ali Fadavi, as saying the Iranian forces caught the "intruding" drone, which had apparently taken off from a U.S. aircraft carrier.
"The U.S. drone, which was conducting a reconnaissance flight and gathering data over the Persian Gulf in the past few days, was captured by the Guard's navy air defense unit as soon as it entered Iranian airspace," Fadavi said. "Such drones usually take off from large warships."
Al-Alam, the Iranian state TV's Arabic-language channel, showed two Guard commanders examining what appeared to be an intact ScanEagle drone. It was not immediately clear if that was the same drone Iran claimed to have captured.
In the footage, the two men then point to a huge map of the Persian Gulf in the background, showing the drone's alleged path of entry into Iranian airspace.
"We shall trample on the U.S," was printed over the map, next to the Guard's coat-of-arms.
If true, the seizure of the drone would be the third reported incident involving Iran and U.S. drones in the past two years.
Last month, Iran claimed that a U.S. drone had violated its airspace. Pentagon said the unmanned aircraft came under fire - at least twice but was not hit - and that the Predator was over international waters.
The Nov. 1 shooting in the Gulf was unprecedented, and further escalated tensions between the United States and Iran, which is under international sanctions over its suspect nuclear program. Tehran denies it's pursuing a nuclear weapon and insists its program is for peaceful purposes only.
In late 2011, Iran claimed it brought down a CIA spy drone after it entered Iranian airspace from its eastern borders with Afghanistan and Pakistan. The RQ-170 Sentinel drone, which is equipped with stealth technology, was captured almost intact. Tehran later said it recovered data from the top-secret drone.
In the case of the Sentinel, after initially saying only that a drone had been lost near the Afghan-Iran border, American officials eventually confirmed it had been monitoring Iran's military and nuclear facilities. Washington asked for it back but Iran refused, and instead released photos of Iranian officials studying the aircraft.
The U.S and its allies believe Iran is pursuing a nuclear weapon. Iran denies the charge, saying its nuclear activities are for peaceful purposes only, such as power generation and cancer treatment.
Iran meanwhile, has claimed advanced in drone technology.
In November, Iranian media reported that the country had produced a domestically-made drone capable of hovering. Earlier, Iran said it obtained images of sensitive Israeli bases taken by a drone that was launched by Lebanon's Hezbollah and downed by Israel.
Iran also claimed other drones made dozens of apparently undetected flights into Israeli airspace from Lebanon in recent years. Israel has rejected the Iranian assertions.
___
Murphy reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
who tells the biggest lies here is hard to do.
 @BocaBob They are politicians, therefore they lie. Too bad we didnt just eliminate the problem back in the 80's.......That leader of theirs was part of that mess then. Now we have to play the game on a much larger scale.Â
 @Susabelle  @BocaBob Yes but we started it by installing a puppet regime in Iran and reaping the rewards in the form of oil. They have every right to be upset with us.
Purposeful capture - great way to unleash a computer virus...Â
I like that idea!
Plausible deniability. :-)
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 @bobalouie Already happened. STUXNET. Problem is we told them about it.
 @KittySmasher  @bobalouie And the virus always comes back while making the rounds globally.
Just turn the place to glass already, sheesh.Â
 @SureHandz Warmongering much? sheesh What makes you any different from them who want to turn Israel into a radioactive wasteland?
 @Larry*X*K Jesus.
 @KittySmasher Thank you, I welcome grammar corrections, sadly mine is not nearly perfect
 @Larry*X*K Not my thing but that is the only difference between 'em.
 @SureHandz Might as well with all the US acts of aggression against a country who hasn't attacked anyone in 214 years. We provided Saddam with chemicals to use against Iran, the same WMDs we were sure Iraq still had and attacked them for it. Murdered Iranian scientists, wrongly blamed Iran for 9-11, falsely accused Iran of being a member of the "Axis of Evil" and then wiped out another "member" of the axis for trumped up WMDs. Violate their airspace with drone flights. Take it upon ourselves to act like the nuke police while we've not even been in compliance with the Nuclear Proliferation Agreement ever while Iran is in compliance. Its been one act of war after another from the US on Iran since the early '50s and our installation of a dictator and you think they have a problem? They have a problem alright, its the same one most of the world has and its called the United States government that is run lock, stock and barrel by corporate america and is only interested in stealing other countries resources with young US kid's lives.
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Tell me why we dont turn N korea to glass for their very real nuke warheads and chemicals they have aimed at us and threaten us with everyday? No oil maybe?
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sheesh. Most US citizens cant even tell which way the wind blows without a weather man.
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Who do you believe? The lies from the Iranians or the lies from the CIA?
 @Hachee_Bungwhy I tend to believe the folks that haven't attacked anyone in the last 214 years. Scratch that, I believe just about anyone over the CIA.
Didn't we claim they were lieing the last time they got one? Yep. Until they proved differently.
The Persians. So gullible. What would be the best way to sidetrack a couple of engineers for a year or so. Just let them "capture" a downed pseudo-drone. One with no secret technology but a mysterious "Black Box" that they will waste time trying to decipher. Heh, heh...
 @Getov Mylon Great idea. Or if they don't want to do that then why don't they just put in auto self destruct so that if it crashes while in a particular area or mode then boom.
Why not just turn one of these drones into a nuclear bomb and "LET" them capture it, then when the time is right........BOOM!!! Problem solved!
That was my idea. To have a self destruct capability so when they are captured we can wait until they start to take it apart then blow it up. But your idea is bigger and better.
 @JFR I bet the Israelis are figuring out a way right now to infiltrate the underground Iranian Nuclear Research and Development  Bunker with a nuclear device. What better way to have no fingerprints than to have an "accident."
 @Getov Mylon  @JFR That would be nice but not likely. Typically R&D is done in a different place than assembly etc. Also you would have to do it at the right time. Too soon and it would be clear that it wasn't an accident since there wasn't the ability. Too late and any built devices could end up smuggled away. So it would be a good way to go but it wouldn't be a no fingerprints scenario. Additionally nuclear bombs leave fingerprints. The enriched fissile material is like a fingerprint. Each production facility produces a particular isotope so each bomb can be traced back to its origin. However, since Israel doesn't ack the bombs it would be harder to get a sample of their enriched material to track against.