IranU.S.-Iran tensions rise as Iran tries to disrupt U.S. reconnaissance flights in Gulf
Tensions between the United States and Iran increase as news emerged last week of an attempt by four Iranian fighter planes, on 1 November, to shoot down a U.S. Predator drone engaged in a surveillance mission over international water in the Persian Gulf
Two Iranian military planes shot at an American military surveillance drone flying over the Persian Gulf near Iran two weeks ago, according to Pentagon officials. The American Predator drone, flying through international airspace, was not hit during the attack. The episode has prompted a strong protest to Iran’s government.
The New York Times reports that the shooting, which occurred on 1 November, is the first known incident of an Iranian warplane firing on an American surveillance drone. The chief Pentagon spokesman, George Little, said the Defense Department’s week-long silence regarding the incident, was due to restrictions on the discussion of classified surveillance missions.
In 2008, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps had five armed speedboats make aggressive maneuvers as they approached three U.S. Navy warships in international waters in the Strait of Hormuz. According to Pentagon officials, the commander of a Navy destroyer was on the verge of sending an order to fire on one of the speedboats, but no shots were fired.
With Iran continuing its nuclear weapons program, the relationship between Iran and the United States has become tense. Last year, an RQ-170 surveillance drone operated by the CIA crashed deep inside Iranian territory during a mission to map suspected nuclear sites. That event came to light after Iran boasted that it had attacked the drone electronically and guided it to a landing. U.S. officials said the drone crashed after a technical malfunction.
Little said the drone was flying about sixteen nautical miles from Iran while conducting a surveillance mission east of Kuwait, in the northern section of the Persian Gulf. According to Little, Iran’s territorial limits extend twelve miles from shore.
Little said the Iranian planes “fired multiple rounds” but missed the Predator and quickly shut down claims that the drone might have been flying in Iranian airspace.
“Our aircraft was never in Iranian airspace,” Little told the New York Times. “It was always flying in international airspace.”
Little told reporters that the Defense Department will continue to conduct surveillance missions over international waters.
“The United States has communicated to the Iranians that we will continue to conduct surveillance flights over international waters, over the Arabian Gulf, consistent with longstanding practice and our commitment to the security of the region,” Little told the Times. “We have a wide range of options, from diplomatic to military, to protect our military assets and our forces in the region and will do so when necessary.”
Officials did not say whether the Iranian jets were trying to shoot down the drone or whether they were firing warning shots. The Iranian jets carried weapons that are suited to support ground troops and are not suitable for air-to-air combat.
Political analysts are now concerned that a chance encounter between the two forces could escalate into a serious confrontation. “This appears to be a disturbing incident, especially if it happened over international waters,” Alireza Nader, an Iran specialist at the RAND Corporation, told the Times. “It is in the interests of the United States to act with restraint regarding this incident.”
American officials also said that Iran’s communications minister Reza Taqipour, the head of the Iranian police Esma‘il Ahmadi Moghaddam, and Iran’s Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, have been added to a blacklist of Iranian individuals and institutions that are affected by laws freezing or blocking access to property and other assets.
The men mentioned above have been accused by State and Treasury officials of jamming satellite broadcasts, disrupting Internet activities, censoring news media, and intimidating and detaining journalists.
Two schools in Tehran, the capital of Iran, have also been added to the list. Imam Hossein University and Baghyatollah Medical Sciences University made the list as Treasury officials say the schools are training and research centers created and run by Revolutionary Guards.
“These actions underscore the administration’s ongoing commitment to hold Iranian government officials and entities responsible for the abuses carried out against their own citizens,” Victoria Nuland, a State Department spokeswoman, said in a statement.
