Iran has said that it is ‘ready for war’ after downing US drone (Picture: AP)

Tensions are rising in the Middle East after an American drone was shot out of the sky in international airspace.

Iran has said that it is ‘ready for war’ after downing the unmanned aircraft, further adding to the friction between the countries.

The commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has said the shooting sent ‘a clear message’ to America.

General Hossein Salami also said Iran ‘does not have any intention for war with any country, but we are ready for war’.


However, the US have branded the incident as an ‘unprovoked attack on a US surveillance asset in international airspace.’



His speech was broadcast live on Iranian state television, shortly after US and Iranian officials acknowledged the shooting down of the drone.

Pictured is an MQ-4C Triton drone, which the US use in their operations (Picture: EPA)

General Hossein Salami also said Iran ‘does not have any intention for war with any country, but we are ready for war’ (Picture: AP)

The two nations have not agreed exactly where the drone was shot down, with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard claiming it was over their airspace.

However, US officials claimed the drone was flying in international airspace over the Strait of Hormuz.

Navy Captain Bill Urban, a spokesman for the U.S. military’s Central Command said: ‘Iranian reports that the aircraft was over Iran are false.

Salami, speaking to a crowd in the western city of Sanandaj, described the American drone as ‘violating our national security border.’

‘Borders are our red line,’ Salami said. ‘Any enemy that violates the borders will be annihilated.’

Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency, citing the Guard, identified the drone as an RQ-4 Global Hawk.

The attacks come following President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from Tehran’s nuclear deal a year ago (Picture: EPA)

A series of attacks on oil tankers near the Persian Gulf has ratcheted up tensions between the US and Iran. Pictured is an oil tanker on fire on June 13, 2019 (Picture:AP)

However, the US Navy also flies a variant that looks similar called the MQ-4C Triton.ace.”

The attacks come against the backdrop of heightened tensions between the US and Iran following President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from Tehran’s nuclear deal a year ago.

Last week, it was also claimed that Iran fired a missile at another drone last week which responded to the attack on two oil tankers near the Gulf of Oman.

The US blames Iran for the attack on the ships, which Tehran denies.

The attacks come against the backdrop of heightened tensions between the US and Iran following Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers a year ago.

An image released by the U.S. Department of Defense shows what the Navy says are members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard removing an unexploded limpet mine from and oil tanker (Picture: AP)

Iran recently has quadrupled its production of low-enriched uranium and threatened to boost its enrichment closer to weapons-grade levels, trying to pressure Europe for new terms to the 2015 deal.

In recent weeks, the US has sent an aircraft carrier to the region and deployed additional troops to the tens of thousands already there.

Mysterious attacks also have targeted oil tankers as Iranian-allied Houthi rebels launched bomb-laden drones into Saudi Arabia.

All this has raised fears that a miscalculation or further rise in tensions could push the US and Iran into an open conflict, some 40 years after Tehran’s Islamic Revolution.

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