Iran Said to Have Downed Drone Used by ‘Foreign Country’

IRNA, Iran’s official news agency, quoted a top provincial official on Friday as saying that Iranian security forces had shot down a drone over the southern port city of Mahshahr. “The downed drone definitely belonged to a foreign country,” said Gholamreza Shariati, the provincial governor, according to the agency. “Its wreckage has been recovered and is being investigated.” The semi-official Tasnim news agency said a “domestically manufactured Mersad surface-to-air missile” had been used to bring down the drone. An Iranian television report said local residents had heard the sound of missile launch on Friday morning. Last June, Iran shot down a US reconnaissance drone it claimed had violated its airspace. Washington insisted the aircraft had been in international airspace and was preparing to retaliate when President Donald Trump said he decided that too many people might be killed. There was no immediate word from Iran as to which type of drone had been involved in the latest incident.