In a statement released on Friday, IRGC announced, “We will soon release the images of the U.S. navy ship that has claimed to have shot down an Iranian drown in the Strait of Hormuz,” adding that the footage will reveal the U.S.’ baseless lie to the whole world.

IRAN NEWS NATIONAL DESK

U.S. President Trump claimed on Thursday that a U.S. ship had shot down an Iranian drone in the Strait of Hormuz, as it got to close to the ship.

The IRGC statement says the images will show that the Iranian drone had been carrying out its surveillance mission in the region before the arrival of the U.S. warship in the Strait of Hormuz, and it has sent its images, including those of USS Boxer, before and after the claimed time of the shooting, prior to returning safely to the base.

Earlier a spokesman for the Iranian Armed Forces has rejected U.S. President Donald Trump’s claim that a U.S. warship shot down an Iranian unmanned aerial system in the Strait of Hormuz, saying all Iranian drones are safe.

“All the unmanned aerial systems belonging to the Islamic Republic of Iran in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, including the one mentioned by the US president, have come back to their bases safe and sound after conducting their planned surveillance and control operations,” Brigadier General Abolfazl Shekarchi said Friday, refuting Trump’s Thursday claim.

He described the allegation as a “delusive” and “baseless” one aimed at fuelling tension and undermining security in the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

The senior general also noted that the Iranian Armed Forces feel “duty-bound” to vigilantly protect and control the security of the region while observing the international rules and regulations.

Earlier on Friday, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Seyyed Abbas Araqchi mocked the US president’s claim by saying that the USS Boxer may have downed an American drone, as Iran has not lost any of its UASs.

“We have not lost any drone in the Strait of Hormuz nor anywhere else,” Araqchi said in a tweet on Friday. “I am worried that USS Boxer has shot down their own UAS by mistake!”

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif also told National Interest in an exclusive interview that Iran does not know whose drone the US warship has shot down, as there is no information about having lost one of its own drones.

“I checked with Tehran, and we do not have any information about having lost a drone today. So, we don’t know, as of now what has happened. We have the president saying that they shot a drone. We don’t know whose drone it is, but we don’t have that information.”

The comments came after Trump claimed the USS Boxer has fired on an Iranian drone on Thursday, shooting it down in the Strait of Hormuz.

“The Boxer took defensive action against an Iranian drone, which had closed into a near distance, approximately 1000 yards, ignoring multiple calls to stand down threatening safety of ship and ship’s crew,” he said at the White House on the same day.

The president added that Iran’s drone “was immediately destroyed.”

The Pentagon claimed the Iranian drone was within a “threatening range” of the U.S. ship.