Earlier in the day top Iranian officials claimed the US Navy may have shot down its own US drone “by mistake” – contradicting the White House account that it had been “immediately destroyed” when it came within 1,000 yards of the ship according to President Trump during Thursday’s press briefing announcing the Iranian drone downing. Iran’s military says all of its drones are accounted for and that it had successfully tracked and monitored the USS Boxer via its overhead unmanned aerial system (UAS) without incident.
Hours following the bizarre contradiction over basic facts, Iran aired video “proof” that its version of events are correct on state TV. Iran’s Press TV published the following video:
🔴 DO NOT MISS 🔴#IRGC releases video showing its #drone -the #US alleges to have downed-safely returning to its base after monitoring #USSBoxer before and after the vessel sailed through the Strait of #Hormuz.
PARTS 1-2-3#Iran #IranianDrone #StraitOfHormuz #PerisanGulf pic.twitter.com/5by5nqoK3g
— Press TV (@PressTV) July 19, 2019
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) issued a statement calling Trump’s account of an Iranian drone downing “sheer lies” and says the newly released drone footage proves the US version of events can’t possibly be true.
An Iranian military spokesman said its reconnaissance drone “returned to base safely after mission” and the drone observation video of the USS Boxer proves this.
🔴 DO NOT MISS 🔴#IRGC releases video showing its #drone -the #US alleges to have downed-safely returning to its base after monitoring #USSBoxer before and after the vessel sailed through the Strait of #Hormuz.
PART 3#Iran #IranianDrone #StraitOfHormuz #PerisanGulf pic.twitter.com/FBJlhHTsQC
— Press TV (@PressTV) July 19, 2019
US military officials who previously spoke to CNN said the Iranian drone had been brought down through electronic jamming measures. If true there’s a strong likelihood the drone may have been recovered by US forces, which can be presented as verifying the White House account.
The video was released after Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Twitter early Friday:
“We have not lost any drone in the Strait of Hormuz nor anywhere else. I am worried that USS Boxer has shot down their own UAS (Unmanned Aerial System) by mistake!“
Iran’s drone footage was aired with the time stamp and date evident, and state media released the following English language statement:
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has released footage captured by an Iranian drone flying over the Strait of Hormuz and monitoring a United States Navy vessel, belying a claim by Washington that the unmanned aircraft was shot down by the American forces.
The Iranians are claiming that the time stamp reveals the drone was still in flight after the time President Trump says it was downed by the USS Boxer.
Iran’s Press TV airs surveillance video it says is from the IRGC drone that Trump claimed U.S. shot down. Press TV says the drone captured footage of the USS Boxer and timecode shows drone was still operating and surveilling the vessel after the time Trump says it was shot down pic.twitter.com/AWmChJq54J
— Golnar Motevalli (@golnarM) July 19, 2019
developing…
via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/2YlO6XG Tyler Durden