Iran Press/ Iran news: Pointing to the shooting down of the US drone by Iran in June, Iran's Intelligence Minister Seyed Mahmoud Alavi said that after the incident, regretful Arab Neighbors changed their position toward Iran.
According to Iran's intelligence minister, shooting down the US drone by Iran in June left a grave impact on the regional Arab states' policies and filled them with such deep concerns that they immediately started rapprochement with Tehran with remorse.
"Certain Arab states sent a message to the intelligence ministry after the US drone shutdown, expressing their willingness to renew their friendly bonds with Iran and saying that they had not stood away from us," Alavi said, addressing a forum in the Western city of Hamedan on Monday.
He reiterated Iran's friendly ties with all nations, specially neighbours and said, "If certain conditions arise and we feel forced to target the US bases and our neighbors are damaged in this course, of course, we will not be pleased, but we will be forced to do so when we are left with no other option to defend our right, although this is not an option that we want to choose."
The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) shot down a US Navy’s Northrop Grumman MQ4-C Triton drone that had entered Iranian airspace in the Gulf of Oman to gather intelligence on June 20, using indigenous Sevvom Khordad surface-to-air missile system.
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IRGC shoots down US spy drone in the Persian Gulf
The United States had confirmed that one of its reconnaissance planes was shot down by Iranian air defenses but denied that it intruded into Tehran’s airspace at the time.
Commander of the IRGC Aerospace Force Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh said that his forces could have also shot down a US P8 aircraft with 35 onboard which was violating Iran’s airspace, but decided to shoot down the drone to only send a message to Washington.
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