Maybe the U.S. shot down its own drone, jokes Iranian minister

“We have not lost any drone in the Strait of Hormuz nor anywhere else,” Araqchi wrote on Twitter. “I am worried that USS Boxer has shot down its own UAS by mistake!”

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Iranian diplomat Abbas Araqchi in 2015 (photo credit: LEONHARD FOEGER / REUTERS)
Iranian diplomat Abbas Araqchi in 2015
(photo credit: LEONHARD FOEGER / REUTERS)
Following the denial by the Iranian military that its drone had been shot down, Deputy Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araqchi joked that perhaps the United States had shot down its own drone.
“We have not lost any drone in the Strait of Hormuz nor anywhere else,” Araqchi wrote on Twitter. “I am worried that USS Boxer has shot down their own UAS by mistake!”
The spokesman for the Iranian Armed Forces, Brig.-Gen. Abolfazl Shekarchi, also denied the claim by US President Donald Trump that the United States had shot down an Iranian drone on Thursday night.
"Unlike Trump’s delusional and groundless claim, all drones belonging to the Islamic Republic of Iran in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, including the one mentioned by the US president, have returned to their bases safe and sound after carrying out their scheduled surveillance and control operations,” the spokesman said, according to Fars News.
“The Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran always feel duty-bound to protect, control and safeguard the security of the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz with full vigilance while observing international regulations,” he added.
He blamed the claim by Trump as an attempt to raise tensions in the region.
Trump on Thursday said that the drone had flown to within a thousand yards (914 meters) of the USS Boxer and had ignored "multiple calls to stand down."
"This is the latest of many provocative and hostile actions by Iran against vessels operating in international waters. The United States reserves the right to defend our personnel, facilities and interests," Trump said.
“The drone was immediately destroyed,” he added.