Iran officially files complaint with UN over violation of airspace by US drone

Iran has officially filed a complaint with the United Nations (UN) over the violation of its airspace by a United States military drone earlier this month.

"The complaint was filed to the UN Security Council over the aggression against our airspace by the American drone," Tasnim news agency quoted Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Gholamhossein Dehghani as saying, as cited by Sputnik.

"The complaint states that Tehran reserves the right to respond firmly if the US repeats the violation," Dehghani added.

Tehran claims that the unmanned aircraft shot down by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on June 20 had been flying over one of its southern provinces near the Persian Gulf. The US, for its part, has rejected the claims and labelled Tehran's move as an "unprovoked attack".

To back its claim, the country released an image of the flight path, showing that the drone was flying over the international waters, in response to which Tehran released a video showing that the drone had entered the Iranian airspace. The two countries' respective proof is similar until the final moments before the unmanned aerial vehicle was shot down.

Days after the incident, Iran's Ambassador to the UN Majid Takht Ravanchi had written a letter to the UN, alleging that the military drone was engaged in a spying operation when it was shot down by the IRGC. The letter added that the Iranian military had given repeated radio warnings to the US drone before downing it after it entered the country's airspace.