Official: Iran has evidence it captured US drone

[unhappycamper]

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/2012-12-05/official-iran-has-evidence-it-captured-us-drone



This image taken Dec. 4 from the Iranian state TV's Arabic-language channel, Al-Alam, shows what Iran purports to be an intact U.S. ScanEagle drone aircraft.


Official: Iran has evidence it captured US drone
By Ali Akbar Dareini on December 05, 2012

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran has material evidence to prove that it has captured an American unmanned aircraft, a prominent lawmaker in Tehran said Wednesday, rejecting U.S. Navy statements that none of its drones in the region was missing.

Tehran on Tuesday claimed to have captured a Boeing-designed ScanEagle drone after it entered Iranian airspace over the Persian Gulf, and even showed an image of what it said was the aircraft on state TV. The Islamic Republic trumpeted its possession of an allegedly intact U.S. drone as another prize in its growing showdown with Washington over surveillance of Iran's disputed nuclear program.

"We have material evidence to prove that the drone we captured belongs to the U.S.," Ismael Kowsari, the head of the Iranian parliament's defense committee, told The Associated Press. "The unmanned aircraft took off from a warship. The Americans will have no choice but to confirm that one of their drones is missing."

Kowsari said Tehran will release more information on the aircraft soon. The ScanEagle is a slow-moving 1.4-meter (5-foot)-long craft with a wingspan of about 3 meters (10 feet).