April
2, 2023
Iranian
media on Sunday reported that the country’s naval forces had warned off a U.S.
Navy reconnaissance aircraft from entering Iran’s airspace over the Sea of
Oman.
Per
the semi-official Tasnim News Agency, a U.S. Navy EP-3E was about to enter
Iran’s airspace over the Sea of Oman when Iranian naval forces "gave the
plane a warning and blocked its unauthorized entry.”
The
report did not offer more details about the nature of the "warning"
but said the U.S. aircraft ultimately stayed away from Iran’s aerial border and
returned to the international routes.
FOX
News Digital has reached out to the Department of Defense but did not hear back
before publication.
Iran
has clashed with the U.S. in the past over the issue of aircraft flying in its
airspace. In 2019 Iranian forces blasted a U.S. Navy high-altitude drone out of
the sky over the Strait of Hormuz via surface-to-air missile.
Sunday’s
episode comes with Iranian-U.S. relations at an all-time low. Efforts to revive
the controversial 2015 nuclear deal have stagnated and Tehran remains
ostracized over its deadly crackdown on protesters.
Crippling
U.S. sanctions have taken aim at Iranian drones, which Washington maintains
have been used to target civilian infrastructure in Ukraine during its war with
Russia.
Tehran
has admitted to sending Russia drones but insists it was before Russian tanks
rolled across Ukraine’s border in February 2022.
Last
month, the U.S. military carried out several precision airstrikes in Syria,
killing eight Iranians, in retaliation for a drone strike Iranian forces
conducted on a coalition base that killed one American.
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