TEHRAN,Iran - Iran said Sunday it had shot down what it described as two Western spy planes over the Persian Gulf, according to Iranian media reports.Brig. Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh (right photo), air force commander for Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps, made the comments to Payam Engelab, or Message of the Revolution, an internal Islamic Revolution Guard Corps publication, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.
He described the aircraft as a spy drone "which can take pictures," according to state-run Press TV, which cited Fars. However, he did not say when the incident occurred or give more specifics. There was no immediate reaction from U.S. officials to the reports.- Western forces have made limited aggressions against Iran, he said, and "we have, thus far, shot down a large number of their highly advanced spy planes ... two of these planes have been shot down in the Persian Gulf." He said previous incidents have not been disclosed to the media, "and this is the first time that we reveal this news," according to Fars.
- After shooting down the planes, the Revolution Guard Corps copied and produced them in large numbers through reverse engineering, Fars said.
- The news agency reported that it was the second time Iran announced it had shot down Western aircraft. In January 2007, an Iranian lawmaker told Fars a U.S. spy plane was shot down by the Iranian military. Syed Nezam Mola Hoveizeh told Fars at the time the aircraft was a spy drone, and that "Americans send such spy drones to the region every now and then."
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