08/25/2014

Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has shot down an Israeli spy drone over the Iranian sky before the unmanned aerial vehicle reached Natanz nuclear facility.

The IRGC's Aerospace Force has intercepted and shot down an Israeli spy drone, the IRGC announced in a statement on Sunday.

It added that the stealth and radar-evading spy drone intended to reach the nuclear facility in Natanz, but was targeted by a surface-to-air missile before it reached the area.

"This mischievous act once again reveals the adventurist nature of the Zionist regime [of Israel] and added another black page to this fake and warmongering regime's file which is full of crimes," the IRGC statement said.

The Israeli spy drone shot down by Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) is an Israeli-made Hermes drone.

The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) can operate within a radius of 800 kilometers and is capable of flying 1,600 kilometers without refueling.

The Israeli UAV is equipped with two cameras, enabling the espionage aircraft to capture high-quality images.

Earlier on Monday, the IRGC released the first pictures of the downed spy drone.

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The stealth spy drone was targeted by a surface-to-air missile before it reached the strategic location, according to the statement.

Meanwhile, Head of the IRGC Public Relations Department Brigadier General Ramezan Sharif also said on Monday that officials believed it to be a "new generation" drone , and that some parts were found intact.

According to Sharif, Iranian military experts are currently analyzing the remaining components of the aircraft to extract any data stored on its system.

Iran's nuclear facilities have always been a regular target for espionage activities by US and Israeli secret services, which have at times used drones for this purpose.

In December 2011, Iran captured a U.S. RQ-170 reconnaissance drone, and in December 2012 they captured a U.S. intelligence ScanEagle drone. Iran has since announced they had extracted technology from the aircraft and were reverse-engineering it for their own defense industry.

On Sunday, Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan warned that the Islamic Republic would give a crushing response to any enemy aggression against Iranian soil.

Today, IRGC Aerospace Force Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh announced that Iran will accelerate arming the Palestinians in the West Bank in response to the recent aggression made by Israel.