Commander of the IRGC Aerospace Force Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh told „Payam Engelab“ (Message of the Revolution), an internal publication of the IRGC, that western forces in the region have made limited aggressions against Iran, and „we have, thus far, shot down a large number of their highly advanced spy planes“.
„Two of these planes have been shot down in the Persian Gulf,“ Gen. Hajizadeh continued.
The commander said that Iran has shot down many foreign planes, but did not reveal it to the media, „and this is the first time that we reveal this news“…

Representative of Dasht-e Azadegan at the Islamic Consultative Assembly, Seyed Nezam Mola Hoveizeh told FNA at the time that the aircraft was a spy drone of the US army and that it had been shot down when trying to cross the borders.

„Americans send such spy drones to the region every now and then,“ the lawmaker further pointed out.

He declined to mention the exact date and location of the development.