Iran claims it downed US spy drone

Iran has downed a U.S. “spy drone” flying near its Fordo nuclear enrichment plant in Qom province, state-run media reported Wednesday.

There was no immediate reaction from the United States on the report from state-run Press TV, which cited a Tuesday story from another website — javanonline.ir.

The date of the incident was not disclosed.

Ali Aqazadeh Dafsari, an Iranian lawmaker, said air defense units of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps shot down the drone, Press TV reported, citing javanonline.ir

Dafsari, who is a member of parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, said that the craft was on a mission to identify the plant’s location and collect information about the facility for the CIA.

The development emerged as the Iranian government announced on Tuesday that it was installing a new generation of centrifuges in its nuclear facilities. The French Foreign Ministry called the the development “a new wave of provocation” that flouts United Nations resolutions.

Iran’s development of missile and nuclear fuel technology has led to U.N. sanctions and accusations from the United States that the clerical regime is trying to develop nuclear weapons.

Iran says it has a right to peaceful nuclear technology. The U.N. nuclear agency has said it cannot verify whether the intent of Tehran’s nuclear program remains peaceful.

CNN