Iran’s Revolutionary Guard says it downed 2 US drones in Strait of Hormuz - Anadolu Ajansı

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said Monday that it downed two US drones south of Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency.

The report said the IRGC Aerospace Force used electronic warfare systems against the two MQM-170 drones, bringing the number of aircraft of that type reportedly captured by Iranian forces to four.

Tasnim said the operation had prevented the drones from completing their missions. It provided no other operational details.

The report follows two similar Iranian announcements last week.

On Friday, the state-run IRNA news agency reported that the IRGC Aerospace Force downed an MQM-170 drone over Qeshm Island using electronic warfare systems.

A day earlier, the IRGC Navy said it had seized control of another drone of the same type in the western Strait of Hormuz and landed it intact.

The US military rejected Iran’s account of Thursday’s incident.

The latest report comes amid ongoing indirect diplomatic contacts between Tehran and Washington.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said Monday that the two countries were continuing to exchange messages through mediators.

He also confirmed that Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi had visited Doha to facilitate the exchanges through Qatari mediation.

The US and Israel began attacks against Iran on Feb. 28. Tehran retaliated by targeting Israel and US assets in the region before a ceasefire agreement was reached in April.

The US and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding on freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz on June 18, but its implementation stalled over disagreements concerning security in the strait.