The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh noted in his speech on 24 February that Iranian military technology had reached a peak and allows the country to infiltrate US military systems, Tasnim News Agency reported.
"We [hacked US drones] to tell them that 'not only you failed to reach your goals, but we have infiltrated your systems', and that was the answer to the Americans' insolence", he said.
Hajizadeh said in an interview on 22 February that Iran had managed to take control over "seven to eight [US] drones" that were flying over Syria and Iraq, adding that the Islamic Republic had managed to gather "first-hand intel" from them. Fars News Agency published a video claiming that it was footage that had been taken by the US drones allegedly hacked by Teheran's cyber unit.
READ MORE: Iran Reportedly Hacked US Drones in Iraq, Syria, Got Intel From Them (VIDEO)
In December 2011, Iranian forces managed to commandeer a US RQ-170 Sentinel flying over the Islamic Republic and safely land it almost entirely intact. US President Barack Obama later asked Tehran to return the drone, but Iran refused. Tehran instead used the drone for reverse engineering, creating its own drone, the Sa'egheh, as a result. The new UAV inherited the RQ-170's stealth design, but was modified to be capable of delivering airstrikes.