Over Qeshm Island
\ntehran
\nIran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said Friday that it had intercepted and destroyed a US MQ-1 reconnaissance and combat drone over Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz, according to Iranian state news agency IRNA.
\nIn a statement, the IRGC said its Aerospace Force shot down the drone using an advanced air defense system operating under the country\u2019s integrated air defense network. The IRGC described the incident as the downing of the 16th US MQ-1 drone.
\nAccording to figures released by the IRGC, Iranian forces have brought down 16 MQ-1 drones and 56 MQ-9 drones, bringing the claimed total to 72 aircraft of the two types. The IRGC said Iranian forces were continuously monitoring US aerial movements, reconnaissance activities and flight patterns in the area.
\nQeshm, Iran\u2019s largest island, is located in the southern province of Hormozgan, near the northern approaches to the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway connecting the Gulf with the Gulf of Oman.
\nIran has repeatedly reported intercepting US drones over Qeshm and surrounding waters amid ongoing military tensions with Washington.
\nEarlier on Friday, the IRGC said that it had brought down two US MQM-170 reconnaissance drones over Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz, according to Iranian state news agency IRNA.
\nIn two separate statements, the IRGC said its Aerospace Force used advanced electronic warfare systems to disable the drones over the island, bringing the total number of MQM-170 drones it claimed to have downed to six.
\nThe statements did not provide further details about the incidents.
\nIran previously said it brought down four US MQM-170 drones in the Strait of Hormuz area during the ongoing conflict.
\nIran says US must take concrete steps before new diplomatic talks
\nIran will no longer rely solely on written commitments from the US and expects concrete actions before entering a new phase of diplomacy, a senior Iranian security official said on Friday.
\nAli Bagheri, deputy secretary of Iran\u2019s Supreme National Security Council, said Washington had repeatedly disrupted negotiations by violating its commitments over the past 18 months, according to the Iranian state news agency IRNA.
\n\u201cIran must see practical actions by the US with its own eyes,\u201d Bagheri said, adding that a new diplomatic opening would become possible only after such steps were taken.
\nBagheri also provided details of Thursday\u2019s meeting between Iranian security chief Mohsen Rezaei and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, saying the talks lasted approximately three hours.
\nHe said the primary purpose of Rezaei\u2019s visit was to deliver a message from Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei outlining Tehran\u2019s priorities and vision for bilateral cooperation with Russia.
\nThe message was intended to clarify the prospects for Iran-Russia relations under Khamenei\u2019s leadership, he added.
\nBagheri also highlighted strategic projects, including the proposed transfer of Russian natural gas to Iran and the International North-South Transport Corridor, saying they could strengthen economic cooperation and reduce Washington\u2019s ability to pressure Tehran.
\nThe two sides have held indirect negotiations through regional mediators, with disagreements over security arrangements and the implementation of commitments continuing to complicate diplomatic efforts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Over Qeshm Island tehran Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said Friday that it had intercepted and destroyed a US MQ-1 reconnaissance and combat drone over Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz, according to Iranian state news agency IRNA. In a statement, the IRGC said its Aerospace Force shot down the drone using an …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":105504,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-105488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105488","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105488"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105488\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":105511,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105488\/revisions\/105511"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/105504"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}