Iran Says It Shot Down a U.S. Drone

Iran shot down a United States drone after it entered its airspace, state media reported on Thursday, the latest escalation in the tensions between the two countries.

Press TV, a state-run news outlet in Iran, said that what it called a “spy drone” had been shot down in the province of Hormozgan, along the country’s southern coast on the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.

The United States disputed that account. “No U.S. aircraft were operating in Iranian airspace today,” said Bill Urban, a spokesman for Central Command, news agencies reported, but The Associated Press and Reuters, citing anonymous sources, said the drone had been shot down in international airspace over the Strait of Hormuz.

American officials said last week that Iran had fired a surface-to-air missile at a drone over the Gulf of Oman, on the same day that two oil tankers were attacked. United States officials have blamed Iran for the attacks on the tankers, a charge that has been strenuously denied in Tehran.