There was a P-8 surveillance aircraft operating in the area at the time Iran shot down a RQ-4 yesterday, a US official tells CNN.

The plane was in international airspace, the official said.

According to the US Navy, the P-8 aircraft is configured to carry a crew of 9 people.

What this is all about: Earlier today, Iran said there was a US plane flying near the downed RQ-4 drone, but they refrained from targeting it, according to Iran’s commander of the Aerospace Force of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps, Amir Ali Hajizadeh.

"While we were tracking the spy drone there was also a P-8 spy plane with 35 crew on board which we could have shot at, but we did not do so," Hajizadeh said.

Note: Hajizadeh said the plane was carrying a crew of 35 people — far more than the 9 the P-8 is configured to carry.