Iran decries US 'drone airspace intrusion'

By Muhammet Kursun

TEHRAN (AA) - Iran has protested the "violation" of its airspace by a U.S. "spy drone" which it downed on Thursday.

In an emergency phone call, Deputy Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araqchi expressed his country's protest to Swiss Ambassador in Tehran Markus Leitner, whose country represents U.S. interests in Tehran, Iran's Foreign Ministry said in a statement Friday.

On Thursday, Iran’s military released a video of the downing a U.S. surveillance drone over the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran and the U.S. dispute the drone’s location when it was downed. Tehran maintains the drone violated its airspace, while Washington says it was in international airspace.

Araqchi asserted there was "indisputable evidence that the drone had breached Iran's airspace."

"This was not the first time Americans have committed such an act, as this has happened a number of times before," he stressed.

Tehran "will not hesitate for a moment to decisively defend its territory against any aggression," Araqchi added.

Following the incident, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Twitter that "Iran made a very big mistake."

The statement comes amid growing hostility in the Persian Gulf between Washington and Tehran.

*Writing by Mahmoud Barakat