TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — The naval chief of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard claims Iranian forces had captured at least two other U.S. drones before unveiling a purportedly downed ScanEagle craft earlier this month.
Monday’s report by the official IRNA news agency does not say when the two other drones were allegedly taken.
It quotes Adm. Ali Fadavi as saying the drone shown on state TV was the third captured ScanEagle, a relatively simple surveillance craft made by a Boeing subsidiary.
Fadavi says Iranian-made copies of the ScanEagle have been put into service, but did not elaborate.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Navy said none of its drones were missing from recent missions, but some might have fallen into the sea in the past. There was no immediate comment from the U.S. 5th Fleet in Bahrain.