Drone capture shows US can’t face Iran: IRGC cmdr.



This image grab, taken from Iran’s television on Tuesday, December 4, 2012, shows US drone that IRGC has captured.
Tue Dec 4, 2012 4:33PM GMT

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) second-in-command says the capture of the intruding US ScanEagle drone over the Persian Gulf proves the United States weakness vis-à-vis Iran.


“The new US failure in spying operation by this drone demonstrated that the US government, despite its high military and economic power and its dominance on the world political order, is not capable of confronting the Islamic Iran, and Iran can easily undo all its plans,” Brigadier General Hossein Salami said on Tuesday.

The general noted that Iran has defeated enemies’ plots despite tough sanctions imposed on the Islamic Republic.

    Had the US been imposed sanctions this way, it could have collapsed within a day, said Salami.


Earlier in the day, IRGC Navy Commander Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi announced the capture of the drone over the Persian Gulf waters upon its intrusion into Iran’s airspace.

The ScanEagle drone, which has a 10ft (3m) wingspan, is a long-endurance aircraft built by Insitu, a subsidiary of Boeing.

A report on the website of the Wall Street Journal on Sunday cited US officials as saying that Washington has stepped up its spying operations on Bushehr nuclear plant in southern Iran “over the past two months.”

A year ago, the Iranian military also grounded a US RQ-170 Sentinel stealth aircraft while it was flying over the Iranian city of Kashmar, some 140 miles (225km) from the Afghan border.

Last month, Iran repelled a US drone that had entered the country’s airspace above the territorial waters of the Islamic Republic in the Persian Gulf.