Iran denies drone approached US aircraft carrier

Iran denied a US Navy report that an Iranian drone flew close to a US aircraft carrier in international waters in the Persian Gulf, the media reported on Tuesday.

The missions of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) patrolling drones are carried out within the territorial waters of the Islamic republic in the Persian Gulf, Xinhua news agency cited an IRGC statement as saying.

A spokesman for the US Naval Forces Central Command on Monday said an Iranian drone came within 300m of the USS Nimitz which was in international waters in the Persian Gulf.

A drone "conducted an unsafe and unprofessional approach" as it passed by the USS Nimitz without navigation lights, said Spokesman Lieutenant Ian McConnaughey.

Controllers for the drone did not respond to radio requests for communication, he said.

The Iranian statement, however, said the IRGC drones equipped with the naval standards were controlled and guided precisely and professionally.

The US Navy and the IRGC have so far had several encounters in the Persian Gulf, but nothing serious has followed.

A US navy official on July 25 said the USS Thunderbolt fired warning shots at an Iranian patrol boat in the Persian Gulf, as it came within 150 yards (about 137 meters) in the northern end of the Persian Gulf.

The Iranian vessel did not respond to any warnings from the US ship, including radio calls, firing of flares and five short blasts from the US ship's whistle, the official said.

However, the IRGC dismissed the "allegations", saying the US navy ship moved toward an Iranian patrol boat in the northern part of the Persian Gulf and fired two warning shots in "a provocative and intimidating action".

--IANS

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