July 19. /TASS/. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has published video footage taken from the Iranian drone allegedly downed by the US military on July 18 over the Strait of Hormuz. According to the PressTV channel, the footage shows that the Iranian drone finished its mission in the area and safely returned to the base before the alleged arrival of the US warship.

On Thursday, US President Donald Trump said that the USS Boxer warship had downed an Iranian drone over the Strait of Hormuz, which was flying too close to the vessel. Iran responded saying that it did not lose any drones in the Strait of Hormuz or elsewhere.

Tensions around Iran started to escalate after two oil tankers caught fire following an alleged attack in the Gulf of Oman on June 13. The US and Saudi Arabia blamed the incident on Iran, who denied all accusations. On June 20, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed to have downed a US drone over the country’s southern Hormozgan Province. US Central Command Spokesperson Bill Urban, in turn, stated that the unmanned aerial vehicle had been flying in international airspace over the Strait of Hormuz. According to the media, following these developments, Trump approved military strikes against Iran but pulled back from launching them ten minutes before the operation was due to begin.