Iran to take legal action over U.S. drone incursion

TEHRAN,Dec.8(MNA) – Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi announced on Wednesday that Iran will pursue the recent violation of the country’s airspace by a U.S. drone through legal channels. The commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Naval Force, Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi, announced on Tuesday that IRGC naval forces had captured a U.S. ScanEagle drone that had violated Iranian airspace. The drone was captured by air defense units of the IRGC Naval Force when it entered Iranian airspace in the Persian Gulf after it had circulated for a few days in the area. Tuesday marked the one-year anniversary of the announcement of Iran’s capture of an RQ-170 Sentinel drone, which had penetrated 250 kilometers into Iranian airspace. Salehi said, “We had previously warned the Americans in this relation, but they claimed that they do not have presence in our airspace. This drone is a piece of evidence in our possession, and we will use it to legally pursue the incursion of the Americans at international organizations.” “We had previously raised official objection to such actions of the Americans and had announced that we would defend our boundaries using any available means,” he said, adding, “We had told the Americans that according to international conventions, we would not allow them to violate our borders and airspace, but unfortunately they did not heed (warnings).” In addition, Salehi said that IRGC forces once again proved the might and capabilities of Iranian armed forces through capturing the U.S. drone. Last month, Tehran sent a letter to the United Nations formally protesting repeated U.S. violations of Iranian airspace with drones.