Tensions between Tehran and Washington escalated on Thursday, June 20 after Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) shot down a US drone in the southern province of Hormozgan, state media reported. The US military has declined to comment at the time of filing the report.
The unmanned military aircraft was shot down when it entered Iran's airspace near the Kouhmobarak district in the south, Iran's state-run IRNA news agency reported.
The report also cited the IRGC who said that the drone was an American RQ-4 Global Hawk.
Iran's Foreign Ministry called the recent military infiltration as "provocative" and said such actions may lead to future consequences. "Any such violation of Iran's borders are strongly condemned ... We warn of the consequences of such illegal and provocative measures," ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said.
While Capt. Bill Urban, a US Central Command spokesman, declined to comment regarding the recent attack on American drone, he told The Associated Press: "There was no drone over Iranian territory."
The relations between the two countries have flared after the US blamed Iran for the attack on two tankers in the Gulf of Oman on June 13.
Gulf of Oman attacks
Last week, it was revealed that Iran fired a surface-to-air missile on a US drone, hours before two tankers were hit.
A US official said that the missile missed the drone and fell into the water. While the official did not reveal whether the drone had footages of the attack being conducted, the source said that an American MQ-9 Reaper drone saw "Iranian vessels closing in on the tankers."
The US military had also released footage that showed Iran's Revolutionary Guard removing a limpet mine from one of the oil tankers attacked. The video suggested that the Iranian armed force tried to remove evidence of its involvement from the attacks.
Iran has denied the accusations and asserted that the country is responsible for maintaining the security of the Strait of Hormuz economic corridor.
The United States has deployed around 1,000 additional troops to the middle east for "defensive purpose", according to a statement released by the Secretary of Defense on Tuesday, June 18.
