Iran said on Saturday that its air defenses shot down an American MQ-9 Reaper drone over Qeshm Island, the latest flashpoint in the eight-month-old US-Iran war, just hours after President Donald Trump confirmed that US forces had carried out fresh strikes on Iranian air defenses in the same area.
Iran's army said in a statement carried by state media that the drone was "hit and destroyed" by advanced air defense systems operating as part of the country's integrated air defense network over Qeshm Island, which sits at the mouth of the strategic Strait of Hormuz. The United States has not confirmed the claim.
An MQ-9 Reaper drone in flight. Photo: U.S. Air Force, via Wikimedia Commons (public domain).
Two drones claimed down in two days
Iranian state media said the MQ-9 was the second American drone Tehran claims to have destroyed over Qeshm Island in two days. On Friday, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said its air defenses had brought down a US MQ-1 drone over the island, which Iranian media described as the 16th such drone claimed destroyed there.
The claims could not be independently verified, and the US Central Command, which oversees American military operations in the region, has not commented on either drone. CENTCOM described the situation around Qeshm Island as "relatively calm" after Friday's explosions, according to Al Jazeera.
Trump confirms "minor" strikes
President Trump confirmed on Friday evening that the US military had carried out new limited strikes on Iran, targeting an Iranian air defense system near Qeshm Island. Iranian state media reported the sound of two explosions in the Suza area of the island, which lies in the crucial waterway for global oil shipments.
"We do minor strikes. They built a little bit of an anti-aircraft device, and we knocked it out in about 15 minutes, maybe five," Trump told reporters after arriving in West Palm Beach, Florida.
It was the second round of US strikes on the island this week. The US military also reported what it described as defensive strikes on Monday, when explosions were heard on Qeshm and Hengam islands and near the mainland port of Bandar Abbas.
Talks continue as tensions flare
The strikes and the drone claims came on the same day that diplomacy appeared to move forward. Earlier on Friday, officials from two Middle East governments said Iran was reviewing new proposals presented by chief mediator Qatar aimed at bridging differences with the United States over Tehran's nuclear program.
Iran has set out conditions for talks that include an end to the US blockade of its ports, the lifting of sanctions, the unfreezing of its assets and compensation for war damage, according to reports. The dispute over Iran's nuclear program remains the thorniest issue, and Trump has insisted it must be resolved as part of any deal to end the war, now in its ninth month.
Friday's strikes were also the first US military action against Iran since Trump's Republican Party suffered a sweeping defeat in Tuesday's midterm elections, losing control of both the House and the Senate.
The Strait of Hormuz remains the war's most dangerous chokepoint. About a fifth of the world's oil and gas supplies normally pass through the narrow waterway, and any sustained disruption there would send immediate shockwaves through global energy markets.
Sources: Anadolu Agency, NDTV, The Jerusalem Post, Press TV, Associated Press.