Iran’s IRGC says it destroyed US MQ-1 drone near Hormuz

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it had intercepted and destroyed a US MQ-1 reconnaissance and strike drone overnight in airspace west of the Strait of Hormuz, amid heightened tensions around the strategic waterway.

The IRGC’s public relations office said the drone was brought down using a new air-defence system operated by the force’s Aerospace Force as part of Iran’s integrated national air-defence network.

Iranian state broadcaster IRIB reported the incident, citing the IRGC.

The statement did not provide further details about the drone’s mission or the circumstances surrounding its interception.

The claim comes as military tensions around the Strait of Hormuz remain high. Maritime traffic through the waterway has fallen sharply amid the broader regional conflict, with only four commodity vessels recorded transiting the strait on Monday, compared with a pre-war average of about 125 daily crossings, according to Kpler data cited by Reuters.

By Tamilla Hasanova