Iran

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has announced that its Aerospace Force grounded two more American MQM-170 reconnaissance drones over southern Qeshm Island using advanced electronic warfare systems. In a statement issued on Thursday, the IRGC Public Relations Office said the fifth and sixth drones of this type were brought down moments earlier, bringing the total number of US MQM-170 aircraft captured by Iranian forces to six.

The operations were carried out south of Qeshm Island in the strategic Strait of Hormuz. The latest achievement came a day after the IRGC Aerospace Force destroyed the 15th US MQ-1 drone over the same island. The Corps has previously reported grounding 14 drones of the same type. Earlier, IRGC forces also destroyed the 55th American MQ-9 Reaper drone east of the Strait of Hormuz. Following the successful interceptions, the IRGC stated that US forces have intensified spying and intelligence flights in the region in an attempt to map Iran’s air defenses.

The Aerospace Force has responded with a series of successful interceptions, once again thwarting Washington’s objectives. The MQM-170 Outlaw, manufactured by the US firm Griffon Aerospace, is primarily designed as an aerial target and decoy platform for testing air-defense systems, though it has also been employed in reconnaissance missions to probe Iranian defenses along the Persian Gulf coast and the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian officials have said the intact capture of such aircraft provides valuable intelligence on the adversary’s equipment and operational methods.

These developments form part of a broader pattern of effective responses by Iran’s integrated air-defense network and indigenous electronic warfare capabilities since the start of the illegal US-Israeli war of aggression against the Islamic Republic in February 2026. Iranian forces have repeatedly neutralized advanced American unmanned aerial vehicles, including multiple MQ-9 and MQ-1 platforms, demonstrating the resilience and technological self-reliance of the country’s defenses in the face of continued hostile aerial activity over its sovereign territory.