TEHRAN, Iran — Iran has material evidence to prove that it has captured an American unmanned aircraft, a prominent lawmaker in Tehran said Wednesday, rejecting US Navy statements that none of its drones in the region was missing.
Tehran on Tuesday claimed to have captured a Boeing-designed ScanEagle drone after it entered Iranian airspace over the Persian Gulf, and even showed an image of what it said was the aircraft on state TV. The Islamic Republic trumpeted its possession of an allegedly intact US drone as another prize in its growing showdown with Washington over surveillance of Iran’s disputed nuclear program.
“We have material evidence to prove that the drone we captured belongs to the US,” Ismael Kowsari, the head of the Iranian parliament’s defense committee, told The Associated Press. “The unmanned aircraft took off from a warship. The Americans will have no choice but to confirm that one of their drones is missing.”
Kowsari said Tehran will release more information on the aircraft soon. The ScanEagle is a slow-moving 5-foot-long craft with a wingspan of about 10 feet.
White House press secretary Jay Carney said Tuesday, “We have no evidence that the Iranian claims are true.” Cmdr. Jason Salata, a spokesman for the US Navy’s Bahrain-based 5th Fleet, also said all US drones in the region are “fully accounted for.”
The conflicting accounts could put pressure on both sides for more details on US reconnaissance and Iranian countermeasures.
There is even the possibility the drone is authentic but was plucked from the sea after a past crash and unveiled for maximum effect as tensions rise over US reconnaissance missions — including a Predator drone coming under fire from Iranian warplanes last month.
Kowsari dismissed suggestions that the drone could have belonged to other nations in the Gulf, including the United Arab Emirates, that have ScanEagle drones in service.
“The UAE doesn’t dare to engage in such activities against us. We have sufficient evidence to prove it is American.” he said. “The capture of the drone demonstrates Iran’s capability of bringing down such aircraft intact.”
Salata noted Tuesday that some ScanEagles operated by the US Navy “have been lost into the water” over the years, but there is no “record of that occurring most recently.”
A conservative news website, rajanews.com, suggested that Iran captured the latest drone using electronic devices. It said the capture shows Iran’s capabilities in an ongoing “electronic battle” with the US.
“In terms of electronic and cyber war, Iran is in a position to take control of the navigation system of (American) drones, cut their connection with the satellites guiding them or the control center stationed on the warships and bring them down intact,” it said.
Kowsari accused the US of stepping up its espionage activities against Iran as part of intensified Western efforts to force Tehran to abandon its uranium enrichment program, a key aspect of its disputed nuclear program. The US its allies suspect Iran may try to develop atomic weapons, a charge Tehran denies.
“The Americans have increased their spying activities, including monitoring Iran’s nuclear power plant in Bushehr, Bandar Abbas port and oil facilities and export terminals,” he said.
Iran believes the US and its allies are seeking data about the flow of goods into Iran and the status of its oil exports after the 27-nation European Union imposed an oil embargo against Iran July 1.
The International Energy Agency says Iran’s oil exports plunged to 1 million barrels a day in July from 1.74 million barrels a day in June after the embargo by the EU, which accounted for around 18 percent of Iran’s exports. Crude oil exports account for about 80 percent of the country’s foreign revenue.
If true, the seizure of the ScanEagle drone would be the third reported incident involving Iran and US drones in the past two years.
Last month, Iran claimed that a US drone violated its airspace. The Pentagon said the unmanned Predator aircraft came under fire at least twice but was not hit, and that the drone was over international waters.
In late 2011, Iran claimed it brought down a CIA spy drone after it entered Iranian airspace from its eastern borders with Afghanistan and Pakistan. The RQ-170 Sentinel drone, which is equipped with stealth technology, was captured almost intact. Tehran later said it recovered data from the drone.
In the case of the Sentinel, after initially saying only that a drone had been lost near the Afghan-Iran border, American officials eventually confirmed it had been monitoring Iran’s military and nuclear facilities. Washington asked for it back but Iran refused, and instead released photos of Iranian officials studying the aircraft.