Iran Claims It Hacked, Seized Foreign Drone During Military Exercise

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards hacked and brought down a foreign surveillance drone during a military exercise, says the official Islamic Republic News Agency.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed in a statement Saturday that the foreign spy drone was hacked during the first day of the war games, “Payambar-e Azam 8” (The Great Prophet 8). The war games are being held in Kerman region in the southeast Iran.

Gen. Hamid Sarkheili, a military spokesman, told the agency that the IRGC had observed all foreign spy drone movements and controlled them during the war games.

"We have managed to bring down a drone of the enemy. This has happened before in our country," Sarkheili said. “For the first time, our special modern warfare task forces are conducting specialized operations.”

He said that IRGC Ground Force tested different asymmetric tactics and various types of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, including "suicide drones," as well as special "modern warfare units" on the first day of the war games.

The statement did not give specify which country the drone belonged to.

In Washington, a Pentagon spokesman noted that the Iranians had not specifically claimed that it was an American drone, Reuters reported.

In November, Iran claimed to capture a U.S. surveillance drone. In August 2011, a lightweight RQ11 Raven drone was brought down by Iranian air defense forces, Reuters reported.

Iran claims to have mastered drone technology and that its own plans to build drones are well advanced.

Iran has been accusing U.S. drones of breaching its airspace. Tensions mounted between the U.S. and Iran after several such incidents were reported in the Gulf region last year.