A still from Iranian government video showing the captured craft.
Dec 06, 2012
Iran threatened to take legal action against the U.S. government "at international courts" Wednesday insisting that a drone captured within Iranian airspace earlier this week was a ScanEagle surveillance drone that belongs to the U.S. government.
"We will use this drone as evidence to pursue a legal case against the US invasion at relevant international bodies," Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi stated Wednesday.
Officials in Tehran claim they now have ample evidence the U.S. has been illegally spying on the country, via drone invasion, after extracting data from the drone, which "shows what the Americans were looking for," Brigadier General Ramezan Sharif stated.
"We had formally protested such actions by the US and had announced that we would defend our borders by any means possible," Salehi added.
"I advise the American commanders to recount their drones accurately," Sharif stated earlier this week after the U.S. insisted that the "off the shelf variety" drone could have come from any country, and that all of its drones were accounted for.
However, the capture would not be the first time Iran has obtained a U.S. drone in its sovereign airspace. Last year Iran revealed that it had captured a U.S. stealth RQ-170 Sentinel drone by way of hacking into its guidance system. Last month, Iran claimed that a U.S. drone violated its airspace, but did not manage to capture or shoot down the drone. The Pentagon claimed the unmanned Predator aircraft did not leave international waters.
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Jacob Chamberlain
Jacob Chamberlain is a former staff writer for Common Dreams. His website is www.jacobpchamberlain.com.
Iran threatened to take legal action against the U.S. government "at international courts" Wednesday insisting that a drone captured within Iranian airspace earlier this week was a ScanEagle surveillance drone that belongs to the U.S. government.
"We will use this drone as evidence to pursue a legal case against the US invasion at relevant international bodies," Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi stated Wednesday.
Officials in Tehran claim they now have ample evidence the U.S. has been illegally spying on the country, via drone invasion, after extracting data from the drone, which "shows what the Americans were looking for," Brigadier General Ramezan Sharif stated.
"We had formally protested such actions by the US and had announced that we would defend our borders by any means possible," Salehi added.
"I advise the American commanders to recount their drones accurately," Sharif stated earlier this week after the U.S. insisted that the "off the shelf variety" drone could have come from any country, and that all of its drones were accounted for.
However, the capture would not be the first time Iran has obtained a U.S. drone in its sovereign airspace. Last year Iran revealed that it had captured a U.S. stealth RQ-170 Sentinel drone by way of hacking into its guidance system. Last month, Iran claimed that a U.S. drone violated its airspace, but did not manage to capture or shoot down the drone. The Pentagon claimed the unmanned Predator aircraft did not leave international waters.
Jacob Chamberlain
Jacob Chamberlain is a former staff writer for Common Dreams. His website is www.jacobpchamberlain.com.
Iran threatened to take legal action against the U.S. government "at international courts" Wednesday insisting that a drone captured within Iranian airspace earlier this week was a ScanEagle surveillance drone that belongs to the U.S. government.
"We will use this drone as evidence to pursue a legal case against the US invasion at relevant international bodies," Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi stated Wednesday.
Officials in Tehran claim they now have ample evidence the U.S. has been illegally spying on the country, via drone invasion, after extracting data from the drone, which "shows what the Americans were looking for," Brigadier General Ramezan Sharif stated.
"We had formally protested such actions by the US and had announced that we would defend our borders by any means possible," Salehi added.
"I advise the American commanders to recount their drones accurately," Sharif stated earlier this week after the U.S. insisted that the "off the shelf variety" drone could have come from any country, and that all of its drones were accounted for.
However, the capture would not be the first time Iran has obtained a U.S. drone in its sovereign airspace. Last year Iran revealed that it had captured a U.S. stealth RQ-170 Sentinel drone by way of hacking into its guidance system. Last month, Iran claimed that a U.S. drone violated its airspace, but did not manage to capture or shoot down the drone. The Pentagon claimed the unmanned Predator aircraft did not leave international waters.
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