A U.S. official on Sunday disputed reports in the Iranian media that Iran's armed forces shot down an unmanned U.S. reconnaissance drone that violated its airspace.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said "there is absolutely no indication up to this point that the drone was shot down."
Earlier Sunday, Iranian media reported that an RQ-170 drone was downed along the country's eastern border after it made a brief incursion into its airspace.
Quoting an unnamed military source, the media said the aircraft was not badly damaged and is in the Iranian military's possession. The source warned "the military response to the drone's violation of the Iranian airspace will not be limited to the country's borders."
In a statement Sunday, the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan said the Iranians may be referring to "an American drone that had been flying a mission over western Afghanistan last week and is now missing." The statement said "the operators of the drone lost control of the aircraft and had been working to determine its status."
In July, an Iranian lawmaker claimed that Iran shot down a U.S. spy aircraft near the Fordu nuclear site. Iran's Revolutionary Guard later refuted the report.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
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