… from Press TV, Tehran
[ Editor’s Note: Here we go again with another “he said, she said”, situation. It is way past time to keep having these endless arguments of which side of the line something was shot down on.
We know the technical capability exists to make a final determination, particularly in an area like the Persian Gulf where we are all expecting such incidents to occur.
We have history of the US being very aggressive on using drones over Iran, with little concern over violations of air space. Iran was left to developing the technology to take control over one of them, land it, and reverse engineer it to have their own flying in about two years I believe.
I don’t remember any apologies from the US, or sanctions being imposed. It was just another day at the office. The US or Iran making untruthful statements to each other, is one thing, but the US making such to the American people, whenever it deems necessary, should be a constitutional issue.
In this particular case Iran has the record of its warnings, which is standard in these incidents. They knew if they shot it down the US would claim it was over international waters.
Our Founding Fathers warned that the public having clear knowledge about what its government was doing was the absolute bedrock of the Republic. That concept not lies tattered in shreds, and worse, with little concern from the public.
We need a Congressional investigation on this, pronto. We will know in the next 24 hours if there will ever be one … Jim W. Dean ]
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– First published … June 21, 2019 –
Iran has released the first photos of the wreckage of a US spy drone which was shot down early Thursday after intruding into the Iranian airspace.
The IRGC Aerospace Force displayed parts of the doomed drone on Friday noon, refuting earlier claims by the US that the UAE was flying over international waters, and had not violated the Iranian airspace.


Photo of the wreckage of a US spy drone shot down by the IRGC air defense forces on Thursday morning. The debris was displayed on Friday. (Photo by IRIB News Agency)


The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps said Thursday it had shot down the unmanned US aircraft after it breached the country’s airspace.
Iran issued “numerous” warnings before shooting down the aircraft, Brigadier General Qader Rahimzadeh, the second-in-command of Iran’s Khatam al-Anbia Air Defense Base, said on Friday.
The last warning was issued at 3:55 am, ten minutes before the shoot-down, IRGC Aerospace Commander Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh said. He make the remarks to reporters on the sidelines of an exhibition held in Tehran to showcase the drone’s wreckage.
US President Donald Trump initially issued a series of cataclysmic threats, insisting that the RQ-4 Global Hawk was flying over international waters when it was taken down by an Iranian missile.
However, the GPS coordinates released by Iran put the drone eight miles off the country’s coast, inside the 12 nautical miles from the shore, which is Iran’s territorial waters.


The purported wreckage of the American drone is seen displayed by the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) in Tehran
Photo of the wreckage of a US spy drone shot down by the IRGC air defense forces on Thursday morning. The debris was displayed on Friday. (Photo by IRIB News Agency)


Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi earlier told the Swiss envoy that “there are irrefutable evidence about the presence of this drone in Iran’s airspace and even some parts of its wreckage have been retrieved from Iranian territorial waters.”
Swiss ambassador summoned 
The Swiss envoy, whose country represents the US interests in Iran, was later summoned to the Iranian foreign ministry on Friday morning, and received an official note which he said will immediately deliver to the US.
In a meeting with an Iranian foreign ministry official, Swiss Ambassador Markus Leitner was asked to tell the US that the Islamic Republic is not after a war with any country, but the Iranian Armed Forces will give a “crushing response to any aggression.”
The Swiss envoy was told that the US will be held accountable for the consequences of such provocative measures.
“The Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran will show restraint as long as possible to preserve the security and tranquility of the sensitive region of the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman.
“But if the other side takes a provocative and unconsidered move, they will not hesitate to give a reciprocal response with unpredictable consequences,” the Iranian official noted, saying the response will be detrimental to all parties involved.
In a letter on Thursday, Iran’s Ambassador to the UN Majid Takht-Ravanchi told the United Nations that the international community needs to confront Washington’s destabilizing actions.
“Iran condemns, in the strongest possible terms, this irresponsible and provocative wrongful act by the United States, which entails its international responsibility,” he wrote in a letter addressed to UN chief António Guterres and the UN Security Council on Thursday.
Takht-Ravanchi wrote that Iran had the right to defend its sovereignty according to the world body’s Charter.
Commander: Drone Attack Message to US, Iran Could Down P8 Aircraft with 35 Onboard
Commander: Drone Attack Message to US, Iran Could Down P8 Aircraft with 35 Onboard
TEHRAN (FNA)- Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh said that his forces could have shot down a US P8 aircraft with 35 on board which was violating Iran’s airspace, but decided to shoot down the drone to only send a message to Washington.

“We intended to send a message to American terrorists in the region,” Brigadier General Hajizadeh said on Friday, adding that his forces had also traced a military P8 aircraft violating the airspace of Iran.
“Along with the American drone was an American P8 aircraft with 35 on board, and it was also violating our airspace and we could have downed it too,” he said, adding, “But we did not do [shoot down] it, because our aim was to warn the terrorist forces of the US.”
The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force shot down an American spy drone over the territorial waters of Iran near the Strait of Hormuz at dawn on Thursday.
The United States had confirmed that one of its reconnaissance plane was shot down by Iraniain air defenses, but denied that it intruded into Tehran’s airspace at the time.
On Thursday evening, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that his country has retrieved parts of the US Global Hawk that was shot down on Thursday morning from the country's territorial waters, rejecting Washington's claim that the aircraft was targeted in international waters.
"[The] US drone took off from UAE in stealth mode and violated Iranian airspace," Zarif wrote on Twitter on Thursday night, adding that the Global Hawk drone "was targeted near... Kouh-e Mobarak" region in the Central district of Jask in Hormuzgan province after the aircraft violated Iran's airspace.
Zarif even provided the coordinates where the US aircraft was intercepted, and added, "We've retrieved sections of the US military drone in OUR territorial waters where it was shot down."
In an earlier tweet, Zarif stated that Iran "will take this US new aggression to [the] UN and show that the US is lying about international waters".
The Iranin foreign minister noted that Tehran does not want war, "but will zealously defend our skies, land and waters".
Commander of the IRGC Major General Hossein Salami stressed that the move should alert Washington officials to stay away.
The incident sent "a clear message" to the US and other enemies that Iran will show a firm and crushing response to any aggression, Salami stated.
"Borders are our red lines and any enemy which violates them will not go back home and will be annihilated. The only way for enemies is to respect Iran's territorial integrity and national interests," the major general noted.