PressTV & Xinhua News – 2011-12-10 23:59:37
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/214776.html
US SPY DRONE SHOT DOWN
BY IRAN SHOWN ON TV
CCTV News
US Told to Stay Away from Iran Airspace
PressTV
TEHRAN (December 9, 2011) — A senior Iranian lawmaker has warned that the next time the US ventures to violate Iran’s air sovereignty it would receive a “frightful” response. Deputy Chairman of the Majlis (parliament) National Security and Foreign Policy Committee Esmail Kowsari warned that if US spy drones attempt to violate Iran’s sovereignty once again Iran “will target every US military base anywhere in the world.” The senior Iranian lawmaker further questioned the silence of the international community on the blatant US violation of Iran’s territorial integrity and highlighted the double standard behavior toward Iran.
“Our question is that if this aircraft belonged to Iran and had violated US territory, how many sessions would the international community and the UN Security Council have held and how many resolutions would they have issued against Iran?”
On Sunday December 4, the Iranian Army’s electronic warfare unit downed with minimum damage the US RQ-170 Sentinel stealth aircraft which was flying over the Iranian city of Kashmar, some 140 miles (225km) from the Afghan border.
Iran has announced that it intends to carry out reverse engineering on the captured RQ-170 Sentinel stealth aircraft, which is also known as the Beast of Kandahar, and is similar in design to a US Air Force B-2 stealth bomber.
On Tuesday December 6, two US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that the drone has been part of a CIA reconnaissance mission, involving the United State’s intelligence community stationed in Afghanistan.
They claimed the reconnaissance capability of the RQ-170 Sentinel drone enabled it to gather information from inside Iran by flying along Afghanistan’s border with the Islamic Republic.
The RQ-170 is an unmanned stealth aircraft designed and developed by the Lockheed Martin Company.
Iran Calls for UN Condemnation of US Drone Aggression
Xinhua News
UNITED NATIONS (December 8, 2011) — Iran Thursday called on the United Nations to condemn a US unmanned drone’s violation of its air space and sought “clear and effective measures” to end such “dangerous and unlawful acts” against the country.
Mohammad Khazaee, the Iranian permanent representative to the United Nations, made the appeal in his letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
The single-page letter was also copied to Vitaly Churkin, the Russian UN ambassador who holds the rotating UN Security Council presidency for December, and Nasser A. Al-Nasser, president of the 66th session of the UN General Assembly.
“Upon instructions from my government, I have the honor to draw your kind attention to the provocative and covert operations against the Islamic Republic of Iran by the United States government, which have increased and intensified in recent months,” the Iranian ambassador said in the letter.
“In the continuation of such trend, recently, an American RQ-170 unmanned spy plane, bearing a specific serial number, violated Iran’s air space,” he said.
“This plane flied 250 kilometers deep into Iranian territory up to the northern region of the city of Tabas, where it faced prompt and forceful action by the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
The ambassador said the “blatant and unprovoked air violation” is tantamount to an act of hostility against Iran in clear contravention of international law, in particular, the basic tenets of the UN Charter. He said it was not the only US act of aggression and covert operation against Iran.
Iranian media reported Sunday that the Iranian military downed a RQ-170 US reconnaissance drone in eastern Iran after it had transgressed Iranian borders. But US officials denied the drone was brought down by Iran, insisting it crashed due to mechanical difficulties. The RQ-170 drone is an unmanned aircraft that has been used for reconnaissance and surveillance by the United States in Afghanistan.
BBC Video
US drone shot down by Iran unveiled on TV
Xinhua News
TEHRAN, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) — The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps’ (IRGC) Aerospace Commander Brigadier General Amir-Ali Hajizadeh said in the report shown by IRIB TV station that “recently, with the help of collected intelligence and with the accurate electronic monitoring, it was learned that the drone was to enter Iran’s air space for spying.”
“After the drone infiltrated Iran’s eastern space, it was trapped by the electronic systems of Iran’s armed forces and was downed with the least damage possible,” Hajizadeh said.
Iranian media reported Sunday that the Iranian military downed a RQ-170 US reconnaissance drone aircraft in the eastern part of the country after finding it had transgressed the eastern borders.
The RQ-170 drone is an unmanned aircraft [that] has been used for reconnaissance and surveillance by the United States in Afghanistan. Describing the hi-tech specifications of the downed aircraft, the IRGC’s aerospace commander said Thursday that the military experts are well aware that the drone has very invaluable technological data.
The drone, the technology of which has been used in B2 and F35 planes too, is equipped with highly advanced surveillance technology and electronic communication and radar systems, Hajizadeh said, adding that the drone is controlled both by satellite and stations based in Afghanistan and the Untied States.
Despite the Iranian claims, US officials denied that the drone was brought down by Iran, insisting that its fall was due to mechanical difficulties, the Wall Street Journal reported. The US officials were quoted as saying on Wednesday that the United States had considered but finally given up a covert mission inside Iran to retrieve or destroy a stealth drone crashed last week, for fear that such actions could provoke explosive clashes with Iran.
US officials are concerned that the craft’s falling into Iran’s hands could lead to security breach, although they said the aircraft’s technology cannot be engineered with ease.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry on Thursday summoned Swiss Ambassador to Tehran Livia Leu Agosti to protest the “violation” of its airspace by a US drone, the state IRIB TV reported. Iran’s protest letter denounced the growing US “provocative and secret moves” against the Islamic Republic, said the report.
“The move is in violation of all international conventions and runs counter to regional and international peace and security. Surely the responsibility for the illegal move lies with the US authorities,” the letter was quoted as saying. The letter added that Iran would reserve the right for following the case as deemed appropriate.
The Swiss embassy in Tehran represents the US interests in Iran since Tehran and Washington severed diplomatic relations in 1980. US President Barack Obama said on Thursday that no options are off the table on Iran’s nuclear program. “No options off the table means I’m considering all options,” the president told reporters at the White House.
In defense of his policy towards Iran, Obama said when he took office in 2009, the world was divided but Iran “was unified and moving aggressively on its own agenda.”
In contrast, the Islamic Republic is isolated today while the world is unified and “applying the toughest sanctions that Iran’s ever experienced,” he argued, adding the sanctions are having an impact inside the country. He vowed to work with US allies, including Israel, to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
“If they are pursuing nuclear weapons, then I have said very clearly that is contrary to the national security interests of the United States, it is contrary to the national security interests of our allies, including Israel, and we are going to work with the world community to prevent that,” he said.
He challenged Iran to act “responsibly” and foreswear the development of nuclear weapons, saying the move would still allow the country “to pursue peaceful nuclear power.”
Amid the rising tension between the West and Iran, and the military threats that comes from the United States and Israel against Iran, the Islamic Republic has claimed that it will react to any threat with threat.
Deputy commander of IRGC Brigadier general Hossein Salami said last week that in the face of Western military threats, the defense doctrine of the Islamic Republic would be “threat for threat.” However, Iran said that it is not in war alert with the United States or Israel.
Chief of Iran’s Majlis (parliament) Defense Committee rejected on Wednesday media reports that the Islamic Republic has recently gone on war alert. “Under the existing conditions, we have no indication that we should be in a particular and new military condition, and it is not correct that Iran’s armed forces are placed on a specific alert,” Gholam-Reza Karami said. Karami said the country is always prepared for any military encounter, said the report.
Recently, some Western media reported that IRGC has issued a war alert “amid a series of mysterious blasts and cyber attacks” in the country.
The Daily Telegraph said the IRGC had started to deploy long- range missiles and guard units to key defensive positions around the country after an order from its Chief Commander General Mohammad-Ali Jafari.
On Nov. 28, the IRGC commander Gholam-Reza Jalali dismissed media reports that a virus attack on Iran’s missile program caused the two successive explosions in the garrison of IRGC which killed a senior IRGC commander and 16 of IRGC members some 35 km away from the Iranian capital of Tehran. Some believed the intelligent services of Israel and the United States were behind the blast.
While the West accuses Iran of developing nuclear weapons under the guise of “civilian” nuclear program, Iran insists that its nuclear program is only for “peaceful” purpose.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry on Thursday summoned Swiss Ambassador to Tehran Livia Leu Agosti to protest the “violation” of its airspace by a US drone, the state IRIB TV reported. Iran’s protest letter denounced the growing US “provocative and secret moves” against the Islamic Republic, said the report.
‘Iran Has Means to Decrypt Drone Data’
PressTV
A senior Iranian lawmaker says Iran owns the “ultra-advanced technology” which enables it to decode the captured US drone’s data and documents. Member of the Majlis (parliament) National Security and Foreign Policy Committee Seyyed Hossein Naqavi Hosseini said on Saturday that the Americans are seriously concerned about the documents the drone was carrying, Fars News Agency reported.
“However, they should know that the Islamic Republic of Iran will ‘decode’ the American drone’s documents and data with the ‘ultra-advanced technology’ that it has,” he added. The lawmaker said decoding the US drone’s data will provide Iran’s armed forces with very important information.
On Sunday December 4, the Iranian Army’s electronic warfare unit downed, with minimum damage, the US RQ-170 Sentinel stealth aircraft, which was flying over the Iranian city of Kashmar, some 140 miles (225km) from the Afghan border. The RQU-170 crossed into Iran’s airspace over the border with neighboring Afghanistan earlier this week.
Naqavi further said the unmanned aerial vehicles operate via a remote navigation system and “therefore, if a country has the technology to remotely control the drones, it can put spy drones on any course it wants.” The lawmaker stated that RQ-170 spy drones have a complicated mechanism and ultra-advanced electronic technology and are, in fact, the symbol of superior US technology.
“When such a drone with all this technology…is hunted by the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran, it proves Iran’s high [level of] defense technology in defending its airspace,” he said.
Iran has announced that it intends to carry out reverse engineering on the captured RQ-170 Sentinel stealth aircraft, which is similar in design to a US Air Force B-2 stealth bomber. The RQ-170 is an unmanned stealth aircraft designed and developed by the Lockheed Martin Company.
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