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Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed on Monday that it downed an American MQ-1 drone over the Strait of Hormuz, intensifying the ongoing military confrontation between Tehran and Washington.
According to Iran's state broadcaster, the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), the development was announced via a post on X, which stated that the American drone had been downed over the strategic waterway. The report was subsequently carried by several other Iranian state media outlets. Iranian authorities, however, did not provide further details regarding the incident. There has been no official confirmation or response from the US military or the White House so far. The development followed hours after US President Donald Trump announced that American forces would reimpose a naval blockade targeting Iran in the Strait of Hormuz, while allowing commercial vessels from other nations to continue using the crucial shipping lane. Speaking to reporters after signing an Executive Order, Trump stated, "We're hitting them (Iran) very heavily tonight... We have tremendous amounts of ammunition. We're hitting them very hard, and it'll continue, and we'll see what happens. We're knocking out all of their offensive capability, and we're controlling the strait (Strait of Hormuz). We're putting the blockade back. It's a blockade, not for anybody but Iran. In other words, anybody doing business with Iran can't go through. Everyone else will be able to go through... The blockade is probably more effective than hitting them. But I think the combination is the thing that really does it." Trump claimed that US military operations had severely degraded Iran's military infrastructure, targeting its naval, air, missile and drone production capabilities. "We've been here for four months. I think we've done a lot. We've knocked out their navy in one month. We knocked out their air force, which is non-existent. We knocked out most of their missiles and drones. We knocked out their drone manufacturing capability by about 92 per cent. Their missile manufacturing capability was knocked out by 89 per cent. They have a little capability left, but they don't have any capability against us. This is almost a military skirmish," Trump said. The US President also asserted that a potential agreement with Tehran had collapsed after Iran sought further negotiations. Trump noted, "We had a deal with them two days ago, and then they said, 'Oh, we can't make that deal. We have to negotiate it further.' And this is what they've done for 47 years. The difference is nobody negotiates as I do... Frankly, for 47 years, they've been ripping off everybody and really hurting people, killing thousands. They killed 52,000 protesters, but they also killed many, many people under Soleimani, whom I killed in the first term... We have to do what we're doing." He stated that US military actions against Iran would persist. "We're doing another very major attack tonight (on Iran). They want to make a deal. They came back. We made a deal two days ago... They've been negotiating for 47 years, but nobody's ever hit them militarily. We're hitting them very hard," Trump added. Furthermore, Trump alleged that Iran's economy and military had experienced significant setbacks. "Four months ago, they (Iran) had inflation of 5 per cent. Now they're at over 350 per cent. They made a deal; they broke it probably 10 times, and they killed a lot of people. They killed our people," the US President said. These developments occurred following a third consecutive night of US strikes on Iranian targets. US Central Command stated that the operations were aimed at degrading Iran's military capabilities and reducing its ability to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran's Mehr News Agency reported that US projectiles hit Omidiyeh in the southwestern province of Khuzestan, injuring at least four people, citing a local official. Separately, the agency stated that an explosion was heard in the southern city of Bushehr at approximately 3.10 am local time. Iranian authorities had not officially commented on the cause of the blast at the time of reporting. Meanwhile, the security situation in the Strait of Hormuz deteriorated further after the UAE stated that two of its tankers were hit by Iranian cruise missiles in Omani territorial waters near the waterway. According to the UAE, one Indian crew member was killed and eight others sustained injuries in the attack. (ANI)
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