Iran fired a missile – but missed – at an American drone on Thursday after the supposed Iranian attack on oil tankers, while another U.S. drone was shot down by Iran-backed rebels in Yemen in recent days.
A senior U.S. official told Fox News that an MQ9 Reaper drone was fired on by the Iranians on Thursday shortly after it arrived at the scene where the MV Altair tanker sent out a distress signal amid the attacks the U.S. says were perpetrated by Iran.
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The official said the first distress call from the MV Altair tanker, a Marshall Islands-flagged but Norwegian-owned crude oil tanker, went out at 6:12am local time. The unmanned MQ9 Reaper drone arrived 8 minutes later.
Then at 6:45am local time, a missile was fired at the drone, but missed. The U.S. military said that it was a modified SA-7 fired from Iran’s mainland. It was fired on after the drone arrived on station to assist the Norwegian tanker.
Officials also told Fox News that a U.S. MQ9 drone was shot down in Yemen by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in recent days. – READ MORE