2019 Iranian shoot-down of American drone

2019 Iranian shoot-down of American drone
Part of 2019–20 Persian Gulf crisis
Iran shoots down US RQ-4 Global Hawk surveillance drone.
Iran shoots down US RQ-4 Global Hawk surveillance drone.
Location
Strait of Hormuz
TargetUnited States Northrop RQ-4A Global Hawk BAMS-D surveillance drone
DateJune 20, 2019
04:05 IRDT[1]
Executed byIslamic Republic of Iran Air Defense Force
Drone destroyed

On June 20, 2019, Iran's integrated system of Air Defense Forces shot down a United States RQ-4A Global Hawk BAMS-D surveillance drone[2][3][4] with a surface-to-air missile over the Strait of Hormuz.[5][6][7] Iran and the U.S. differ on where the incident actually occurred.[5] Iranian officials said that the drone violated their airspace, while U.S. officials responded that the drone was in international airspace.[8][9][10]

The incident occurred amid rising tensions between the two countries and nearly resulted in an armed confrontation. U.S. President Donald Trump initially ordered a military strike against Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) radar and missile sites before reversing the decision. Instead, the U.S. retaliated with cyberattacks on the IRGC's missile-control systems (which Iran says were firewalled), announced new sanctions against several Iranian nationals, and requested a closed-door UN Security Council meeting to address the regional tensions.

  1. ^ "US confirms drone was shot down by Iranian missile". BBC News. June 20, 2019. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
  2. ^ Bellon, Tina; Stone, Mike (June 20, 2019). Oatis, Jonathan (ed.). "Factbox: The Global Hawk drone shot down by Iran". Reuters. Retrieved June 24, 2019.
  3. ^ Kube, Courtney; Helsel, Phil; Arouzi, Ali (June 20, 2019). "Iran shoots down U.S. drone in international space, U.S. officials say". NBC News. Retrieved June 20, 2019. Iranian and U.S. officials have previously delivered conflicting reports identifying the drone as an RQ-4A Global Hawk or its naval variant, the MQ-4 Triton.
  4. ^ Picheta, Rob; Wagner, Meg; Rocha, Veronica; Hayes, Mike; Hammond, Elise (June 20, 2019). "Iran shoots down US drone". CNN. Retrieved June 24, 2019.
  5. ^ a b "Strait of Hormuz: US confirms drone shot down by Iran". BBC. June 20, 2019. Retrieved June 20, 2019.
  6. ^ "Iran shoots down American drone in "clear message" to U.S." CBS News. June 20, 2019. Retrieved June 20, 2019.
  7. ^ "Iran's Revolutionary Guard shoots down US drone". Al Jazeera. Retrieved June 20, 2019.
  8. ^ Law, Tara (June 21, 2019). "Iran Shot Down a $176 Million U.S. Drone. Here's What to Know About the RQ-4 Global Hawk". TIME. Retrieved June 24, 2019.
  9. ^ "US confirms drone was shot down by Iranian missile". BBC. June 20, 2019. Retrieved June 20, 2019. Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) said the aircraft had violated Iranian airspace, and that the incident sent a "clear message to America". But the US military insisted the drone had been over international waters at the time, and condemned what it called an "unprovoked attack" by the IRGC.
  10. ^ "Iran shoots down U.S. drone in international space, U.S. officials say". NBC News. June 20, 2019. Retrieved June 20, 2019.