An Iranian surface-to-air missile shot down a US Navy MQ-4C Triton over the Strait of Hormuz, an American official reported on Thursday June 20. DEBKAfile: The missile’s description indicates it was fired from Iranian soil at an aircraft flying over international waters, which makes the incident grave enough to call for a US response. The official offered no further details.Tehran is acting to underline its claim of responsibility for the security of navigation in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz Washington challenges this claim after accusing Iran of aggression against oil tanker shipping and infrastructure as well as US interests in Saudi Arabia and American military and civilian sites in Iraq.
The downing of the Triton was disclosed shortly after Iran said its Revolutionary Guards shot down an American US RQ-4 Global Hawk spy drone over the village of Kuhmobarak in the southern Iranian province of Hormozgan. The RQ-4 is considered to be the world’s largest and most advanced UAV of its type. Asked about this incident, Capt. Bill Urban, a US Central Command spokesman, declined to comment, saying only: “There was no drone over Iranian territory.”
The contradiction between the Iranian claim and the American response may indicate separate incidents on different dates.
