Iran says it has evidence it captured U.S. Navy drone
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran has material evidence to prove that it has captured an American unmanned aircraft, a prominent lawmaker in Tehran said Wednesday, rejecting U.S. Navy statements that none of its drones in the region was missing.
Tehran on Tuesday claimed to have captured a Boeing-designed ScanEagle drone after it entered Iranian airspace over the Persian Gulf, and even showed an image of what it said was the aircraft on state TV. The Islamic Republic trumpeted its possession of an allegedly intact U.S. drone as another prize in its growing showdown with Washington over surveillance of Iran's disputed nuclear program.
"We have material evidence to prove that the drone we captured belongs to the U.S.," Ismael Kowsari, the head of the Iranian parliament's defense committee, told The Associated Press. "The unmanned aircraft took off from a warship. The Americans will have no choice but to confirm that one of their drones is missing."
Kowsari said Tehran will release more information on the aircraft soon. The ScanEagle is a slow-moving 1.4-meter (5-foot)-long craft with a wingspan of about 3 meters (10 feet).
White House press secretary Jay Carney said Tuesday, "We have no evidence that the Iranian claims are true." Cmdr. Jason Salata, a spokesman for the U.S. Navy's Bahrain-based 5th Fleet, also said all U.S. drones in the region are "fully accounted for."
The conflicting accounts could put pressure on both sides for more details on U.S. reconnaissance and Iranian countermeasures.
There is even the possibility the drone is authentic but was plucked from the sea after a past crash and unveiled for maximum effect as tensions rise over U.S. reconnaissance missions - including a Predator drone coming under fire from Iranian warplanes last month.
Kowsari dismissed suggestions that the drone could have belonged to other nations in the Gulf, including the United Arab Emirates, that have ScanEagle drones in service.
"The UAE doesn't dare to engage in such activities against us. We have sufficient evidence to prove it is American." he said. "The capture of the drone demonstrates Iran's capability of bringing down such aircraft intact."
Salata noted Tuesday that some ScanEagles operated by the U.S. Navy "have been lost into the water" over the years, but there is no "record of that occurring most recently."
A conservative news website, rajanews.com, suggested that Iran captured the latest drone using electronic devices. It said the capture shows Iran's capabilities in an ongoing "electronic battle" with the U.S.
"In terms of electronic and cyber war, Iran is in a position to take control of the navigation system of (American) drones, cut their connection with the satellites guiding them or the control center stationed on the warships and bring them down intact," it said.
Kowsari accused the U.S. of stepping up its espionage activities against Iran as part of intensified Western efforts to force Tehran to abandon its uranium enrichment program, a key aspect of its disputed nuclear program. The U.S. its allies suspect Iran may try to develop atomic weapons, a charge Tehran denies.
"The Americans have increased their spying activities, including monitoring Iran's nuclear power plant in Bushehr, Bandar Abbas port and oil facilities and export terminals," he said.
Iran believes the U.S. and its allies are seeking data about the flow of goods into Iran and the status of its oil exports after the 27-nation European Union imposed an oil embargo against Iran July 1.
The International Energy Agency says Iran's oil exports plunged to 1 million barrels a day in July from 1.74 million barrels a day in June after the embargo by the EU, which accounted for around 18 percent of Iran's exports. Crude oil exports account for about 80 percent of the country's foreign revenue.
If true, the seizure of the ScanEagle drone would be the third reported incident involving Iran and U.S. drones in the past two years.
Last month, Iran claimed that a U.S. drone violated its airspace. The Pentagon said the unmanned Predator aircraft came under fire at least twice but was not hit, and that the drone was over international waters.
In late 2011, Iran claimed it brought down a CIA spy drone after it entered Iranian airspace from its eastern borders with Afghanistan and Pakistan. The RQ-170 Sentinel drone, which is equipped with stealth technology, was captured almost intact. Tehran later said it recovered data from the drone.
In the case of the Sentinel, after initially saying only that a drone had been lost near the Afghan-Iran border, American officials eventually confirmed it had been monitoring Iran's military and nuclear facilities. Washington asked for it back but Iran refused, and instead released photos of Iranian officials studying the aircraft.
Tehran on Tuesday claimed to have captured a Boeing-designed ScanEagle drone after it entered Iranian airspace over the Persian Gulf, and even showed an image of what it said was the aircraft on state TV. The Islamic Republic trumpeted its possession of an allegedly intact U.S. drone as another prize in its growing showdown with Washington over surveillance of Iran's disputed nuclear program.
"We have material evidence to prove that the drone we captured belongs to the U.S.," Ismael Kowsari, the head of the Iranian parliament's defense committee, told The Associated Press. "The unmanned aircraft took off from a warship. The Americans will have no choice but to confirm that one of their drones is missing."
Kowsari said Tehran will release more information on the aircraft soon. The ScanEagle is a slow-moving 1.4-meter (5-foot)-long craft with a wingspan of about 3 meters (10 feet).
White House press secretary Jay Carney said Tuesday, "We have no evidence that the Iranian claims are true." Cmdr. Jason Salata, a spokesman for the U.S. Navy's Bahrain-based 5th Fleet, also said all U.S. drones in the region are "fully accounted for."
The conflicting accounts could put pressure on both sides for more details on U.S. reconnaissance and Iranian countermeasures.
There is even the possibility the drone is authentic but was plucked from the sea after a past crash and unveiled for maximum effect as tensions rise over U.S. reconnaissance missions - including a Predator drone coming under fire from Iranian warplanes last month.
Kowsari dismissed suggestions that the drone could have belonged to other nations in the Gulf, including the United Arab Emirates, that have ScanEagle drones in service.
"The UAE doesn't dare to engage in such activities against us. We have sufficient evidence to prove it is American." he said. "The capture of the drone demonstrates Iran's capability of bringing down such aircraft intact."
Salata noted Tuesday that some ScanEagles operated by the U.S. Navy "have been lost into the water" over the years, but there is no "record of that occurring most recently."
A conservative news website, rajanews.com, suggested that Iran captured the latest drone using electronic devices. It said the capture shows Iran's capabilities in an ongoing "electronic battle" with the U.S.
"In terms of electronic and cyber war, Iran is in a position to take control of the navigation system of (American) drones, cut their connection with the satellites guiding them or the control center stationed on the warships and bring them down intact," it said.
Kowsari accused the U.S. of stepping up its espionage activities against Iran as part of intensified Western efforts to force Tehran to abandon its uranium enrichment program, a key aspect of its disputed nuclear program. The U.S. its allies suspect Iran may try to develop atomic weapons, a charge Tehran denies.
"The Americans have increased their spying activities, including monitoring Iran's nuclear power plant in Bushehr, Bandar Abbas port and oil facilities and export terminals," he said.
Iran believes the U.S. and its allies are seeking data about the flow of goods into Iran and the status of its oil exports after the 27-nation European Union imposed an oil embargo against Iran July 1.
The International Energy Agency says Iran's oil exports plunged to 1 million barrels a day in July from 1.74 million barrels a day in June after the embargo by the EU, which accounted for around 18 percent of Iran's exports. Crude oil exports account for about 80 percent of the country's foreign revenue.
If true, the seizure of the ScanEagle drone would be the third reported incident involving Iran and U.S. drones in the past two years.
Last month, Iran claimed that a U.S. drone violated its airspace. The Pentagon said the unmanned Predator aircraft came under fire at least twice but was not hit, and that the drone was over international waters.
In late 2011, Iran claimed it brought down a CIA spy drone after it entered Iranian airspace from its eastern borders with Afghanistan and Pakistan. The RQ-170 Sentinel drone, which is equipped with stealth technology, was captured almost intact. Tehran later said it recovered data from the drone.
In the case of the Sentinel, after initially saying only that a drone had been lost near the Afghan-Iran border, American officials eventually confirmed it had been monitoring Iran's military and nuclear facilities. Washington asked for it back but Iran refused, and instead released photos of Iranian officials studying the aircraft.
There is a well known software vulnerability that the military has known about for a long time and has yet to fix it, despite their near trillion dollar budget. The US has a long history of lying about (virtually) everything under the sun, so its no shock they'd deny this event ever happen..
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The US is also mad that Iran is trading gold for oil which nullifies any effect sanctions would have over them.Â
Actually Iran getting rid of thier gold is an indication the sanctions are working in some measure. No gold reserves to back up your currency even a little is a big negative. Yes, our government lies a lot - in this case I don't think so. It is no secret that we use these drones - and we want Iran to know we are watching. What are they gonna do? Go to the UN?
Iran needs to blow itself up with one its nukes
Caliphate iranian islamists are known for the bakers dozen of lies. Nothing they say is half true and as phony as their hollow rhetoric logic system of reality. So, we should believe them about this like the last lie? This rag media is just propagandizing as usual. Seeing what fool will believe them. islamist ruled iran are barbaric butchers that kill their own wives and children with strap on bombs. That is their way of life and Lack of respect for it. So much for their credibility on matters. Yet in the same foolish deeds they cryout in hillary and obama Sympathize them and financially support their operations. abama just promised the islamists 1.5 B in "green monies yet you know it goes for rockets to assault ppl in Israel and other like the Coptics in Egypt.
@Zechariah Can you provide a link to the random paragraph generator you are using? I tried this one - http://watchout4snakes.com/CreativityTools/RandomParagraph/RandomParagraph.aspx but all I got was this: "Iran fails after Drone. The neighborhood swims. The vendor implements Drone. When can Drone implement Iran? Iran toasts Drone within a manufactured fraud"
Oh my, they are starting a collection aren't they
It'll be interesting to watch this story develop. This is very high risk for both the U.S. and Iran.
ScanEagle is much smaller than an MQ-1 Predator or others. It is easily carried by two people (itâs possible, though a little awkward, for one person to carry it). It is launched from a slingshot, recovered with a net (and often damaged in the process) and controlled by a small laptop like device. Itâs also a relatively cheap system costing about 3.5 million (compared to about 40 million EACH for a Reaper, which is an advanced development of the Predator). In this case a âsystemâ means FOUR air vehicles, a ground control station, a launcher and recovery net. This is not high end stealthy equipment we are talking about here.
The US would NEVER admit to the capture of one of our drones, especially if it were true.
Last summer, according to Air Jobs Digest, the US Navy gave two Virginia-based companies $800,000,000 to develop a UAV program.
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Fiscal cliff. $800,000,000 spy planes for the Navy, who apparently already has them.