An Iranian general says his country's air defenses have warned off several U.S. fighter jets and drones during an ongoing military drill in the country's south.

Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency on Wednesday quoted Gen. Abbas Farajpour making the claim.

Farajpour said: "In the past three days of military drills, the air defense has given warnings to 12 aircraft of trans-regional countries to stay away from the country's airspace."

Calls to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet, based in Bahrain, rang unanswered Wednesday. In recent months, the 5th Fleet has complained about interactions with Iran's military at sea and in the air.

Iranian air defense units began an exercise involving 17,000 personnel stationed over 496,000 square kilometers (191,505 square miles) in southern Iran on Monday.