Iran shot down US spy plane, military source says
A crew chief completes a post flight inspection of a Predator drone on Sept. 15, 2004 at Balad Air Base, Iraq.
The Iranian army shot down an unmanned US reconnaissance plane over the east of Iran, a local military source was quoted as saying Sunday.
According to the unnamed senior official cited by government-owned Press TV, an American-built RQ-170 Sentinel drone crossed into Iranian airspace from Afghanistan.
More from GlobalPost: Top 10 ways US tries to subvert Iran
The Iranian army's electronic warfare unit shot the aircraft down "with minimum damage," the source claimed. It is now in the hands of the Iranian military, said state news agency IRNA.
The official warned the alleged incident would have consequences outside Iran:
"Due to the clear border violation, the operational and electronic measures taken by the Islamic Republic of Iran's Armed Forces against invading aircraft will not remain limited to Iran's borders."
The RQ-170 is an unmanned aerial vehicle designed by Lockheed Martin. The US Air Force uses it in Afghanistan.
The alleged incident has not been officially confirmed. A similar incident was reported by Iranian media in July, Xinhua news agency said, but the claims turned out to be false.
Last month, Iranian officials claimed to have arrested 12 CIA agents allegedly spying on Iran for the US and Israel.
More from GlobalPost: Iran planning to attack US military bases in Germany – report
Every day, reporters and producers at The World are hard at work bringing you human-centered news from across the globe. But we can’t do it without you. We need your support to ensure we can continue this work for another year.
Make a gift today, and you’ll help us unlock a matching gift of $67,000!