- Sputnik International, 1920
World
Get the latest news from around the world, live coverage, off-beat stories, features and analysis.

Iran Swats Away US Spy Plane Off Territorial Waters

© Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Brandon ParkerA U.S. Navy Lockheed EP-3E Aries II. File photo.
A U.S. Navy Lockheed EP-3E Aries II. File photo. - Sputnik International, 1920, 02.04.2023
Subscribe
Well over two years into the Biden administration, the hoped-for drop in tensions between Tehran and Washington has failed to materialize, with the US ramping up sanctions, practicing mock bombing runs against the Islamic Republic with Israel, and continuing the illegal occupation of wide swathes of Syria –a key Iranian ally.
Iran’s military shooed away a US Navy EP-3E reconnaissance aircraft on Sunday after it entered airspace over the Islamic Republic’s territorial waters.
“After the US Navy’s EP-3E aircraft entered Iran’s territorial waters, vigilant Navy commanders sent a warning to prevent the aircraft from entering the country’s airspace without authorization,” the Iranian Navy said in a statement.
The Navy’s public relations department indicated that the alertness of its forces blocked the unauthorized entry of the “terrorist” plane into Iran’s airspace, with the US aircraft said to have heeded the warning and returned to international waters.
The Pentagon has yet to comment on the incident.
Sunday’s incident isn’t the first of its kind, with Iran’s military regularly picking up EP-3E spy planes skimming provocatively close to Iranian waters in the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman to maximize intelligence collection.
 In this file photo taken Saturday, May 24, 2014, China's Harbin (112) guided missile destroyer takes part in a week-long China-Russia Joint Sea-2014 navy exercise at the East China Sea off Shanghai, China. A Russian naval task force has arrived in the northern Chinese port of Qingdao ahead of joint naval exercises that reinforce the growing bond between Beijing and Moscow.  - Sputnik International, 1920, 30.03.2023
Military
Russia, China, Iran Naval Drills Make Positive Contribution to Maritime Security, Beijing Says
The Islamic Republic has not shied away from making clear to Washington that it will target American aircraft straying into its airspace. In June 2019, Revolutionary Guards air defense troops shot down a US RQ-4 Global Hawk drone in the Strait of Hormuz using a cutting-edge domestically-made surface-to-air missile system, bringing the two countries to the brink of war. Iran later revealed that its forces had refrained from firing on a manned Boeing P-8 Poseidon with dozens of airmen onboard which was operating near the Global Hawk to prevent a further escalation. Iran then collected the wreckage of the US drone, put it back together and put it on display in Tehran.
Iran’s military has warned that it will not tolerate US aircraft, whether they be manned or unmanned spy craft of nuclear-capable bombers, from intruding on its airspace. In 2020, a senior Iranian air defense commander warned that the country’s airspace was one of Iran’s “red lines,” and that “as enemies have experienced in the past…the smallest violation will be met with the air defense forces’ crushing and fiery response.”
Iran has one of the most capable air defense networks in the Middle East, with a dense system of ground and sea-based SAM missiles complemented by sophisticated detection capabilities, including 3D phased-array radars, large early warning radars with ranges of between 400 and 800 km, and an active space surveillance program.
US Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff; Israeli Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, chief of the General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, meet in Tel Aviv on March 3, 2023. - Sputnik International, 1920, 03.03.2023
World
Top Israeli, Pentagon Officials Agree on Need to ‘Prevent Iran From Gaining a Nuclear Weapon’
Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала