State media reported Tuesday that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps intercepted and destroyed an MQ-1 drone in the eastern part of the Strait of Hormuz, the fourth such drone to be shot down in recent days.
The Radio and Television News Agency, quoting the IRGC, said the Guards’ aerospace force shot down the drone. Iranian state media called it an advanced MQ-1 aircraft.
The IRGC earlier said it had shot down another MQ-1 drone over the Strait of Hormuz with a newly deployed air defence system.
The new allegation comes as shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has fallen sharply amid the wider regional conflict. Only four vessels with commodities passed through the waterway on Monday, down from 10 on Sunday and well below the pre-war average of about 125 daily, Reuters reported.
The strait is an important shipping route for global oil and gas shipments and the continued military activity in the strait has caused concerns of further disruption to energy supplies.
