Iran’s IRGC Shot Down US MQ-9 Drone, Warns Gulf Powers Against Shielding Bases

Iran denounced United States strikes in southern Iran as a sign of “bad faith and unreliability” while negotiations to end their nearly three-month conflict continued and a fragile ceasefire hung by a thread.

“Iran says it downed US drone, forced other aircraft to retreat from airspace IRGC warns of response to any ceasefire violations amid continuing regional tensions Serdar Dincel 26 May 2026•Update: 26 May 2026 ISTANBUL Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said Tuesday that it shot down a US MQ-9 drone and claimed that an RQ-4 drone and an F-35 fighter jet also entered Iranian airspace before retreating”

Anadolu Ajansı

U.S. Central Command said “U.S. forces conducted self-defense strikes in southern Iran today to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces,” with targets including missile launch sites and Iranian boats attempting to emplace mines.

Anadolu Ajansı

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei warned that Gulf powers would no longer shield U.S. military bases in the region, declaring Washington had lost its safe haven as the two countries negotiate a deal.

The same reporting said Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps reported it had shot down a U.S. drone and fired on a fighter jet it said had violated Iranian airspace, while the Iranian negotiating team returned to Doha on Tuesday for a meeting with Qatari officials.

In parallel, U.S. Central Command said it has redirected 108 commercial vessels to ensure compliance as part of the ongoing naval blockade of Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) announced on Tuesday that its air defense units shot down a U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drone over the Persian Gulf and warned that any violation of the current ceasefire would face a severe response.

The IRGC statement said the American drone was intercepted and destroyed after entering Iranian territorial airspace, and it also claimed to have fired warnings at an RQ-4 drone and an F-35 fighter jet, forcing them to retreat.

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Senior Iranian armed forces spokesman Abolfazl Shekarchi warned that “If the region enters another round of war, Iran's response will extend beyond regional borders,” as the claims came alongside reports that U.S. and Israeli aircraft struck Iranian vessels south of Larak Island near the Strait of Hormuz.

The TRT World report said the IRGC reserves the right “to respond to any ceasefire violation by the aggressor US army,” while Anadolu Ajansı described the same IRGC position as it said the aircraft entered Iranian airspace over the Gulf region before retreating.

The Anadolu Ajansı account also said a ceasefire took effect on April 8 and was later extended indefinitely by U.S. President Donald Trump, placing the drone incident within the post-ceasefire period.

Iran’s foreign ministry said the U.S. violated the ceasefire with strikes in Iran’s southern Hormozgan province, and it said the U.S. “has violated the ceasefire with strikes in Iran’s southern Hormozgan province.”

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The same report said the U.S. military carried out strikes on Monday in southern Iran against targets it described as defensive actions, while Iranian media reported hearing sounds of explosions in Bandar Abbas in the province.

The IRGC-linked warnings framed the response as reciprocal, with the IRGC Public Relations Department telling Mehr News Agency that the “US “terrorist army”” entered Iran’s airspace in the Persian Gulf region and that its air defense units downed an MQ-9 drone while defending Iran’s territorial airspace.

In the NewsNation account, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the military was operating with “large forces on the ground” in southern Lebanon and taking control of “strategic areas,” as the remarks came after Israeli ground operations expanded in southern Lebanon beyond a demarcation line set after an April 16 ceasefire with Hezbollah.

With the ceasefire described as fragile and negotiations ongoing, the reporting also said Erdogan told Iran it will continue to support peace through negotiations, including a phone call Tuesday with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian discussing bilateral ties and regional and global developments.