Iran says it downed US drone over Strait of Hormuz

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said Monday that it had shot down a US drone over the Strait of Hormuz, causing it to crash into the waters of the Gulf.

In a statement, the IRGC public relations office said the "ever-watchful fighters of the IRGC's modern air defense" hit the long-range US MQ-9 Reaper drone with missile fire early Monday, causing it to fall into the Gulf, according to Iran's Mehr News Agency.

The statement also praised the Iranian people's continued presence in the field as the greatest support for the nation's fighters.

On Sunday, US forces struck two Iranian launchers on Larak Island, marking the first US strikes on Iranian territory since late July, a US official told Axios.

Iran's Tasnim news agency reported that preliminary information indicated the attack was carried out by drones.

The US operation targeted systems that were allegedly being prepared to launch rockets carrying sea mines into the Strait of Hormuz.

The IRGC said several fighters and civilians were killed or injured in the strike and vowed to respond.