DUBAI (Reuters) – The Iranian navy said it identified and warned off a U.S. reconnaissance plane near the Gulf of Oman on Sunday, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.
“After the warning, the plane was prevented from entering the country’s skies without authorization,” said the report, identifying the plane as a U.S. Navy EP-3E.
Although the Tasnim report stated that the aircraft had entered Iranian airspace, it was also stated in the opening paragraph that the aircraft had left Iran after being warned.
The U.S. Defense Department did no immediate respond to a request for comment.
Similar confrontations have occurred with U.S. forces before. Iran shot down a U.S. drone it claimed was flying over Iran’s south in 2019,
Iran claimed that its military launched a drone on December 31 to warn of a reconnaissance aircraft trying to approach Iranian war games off the Gulf coast. However, the aircraft was not identified.
To provide security for its allies, the United States has deployed troops and weaponry in the oil-producing Gulf since long.
The long-standing tensions between Iran and the United States have worsened in the past year as talks to revive 2015’s nuclear agreement fell apart and after Tehran launched a brutal crackdown against protesters.
U.S. sanctions also target Iranian drone suppliers, which Washington claims were used to attack civilian infrastructure in Ukraine during conflict with Russia.
Iran previously admitted to sending drones, but claimed they were sent prior to the invasion. Moscow denies that its forces used Iranian drones to attack Ukraine.
(Reporting from Dubai Newsroom; Additional reporting done by Arshad Muhammad in Washington, Editing and Managing by Tom Perry, David Goodman, Raissa Kasolowsky).
Disclaimer: This report has been generated automatically using the Reuters news service. ThePrint does not take responsibility for its contents.