Iran showed off a U.S. RQ-170 spy drone - also known as the Sentinel - on Thursday, after declaring it had downed the aircraft on Sunday near its border with Afghanistan. The drone was shown on Iranian TV and appeared to be intact, despite the U.S. belief that it had crashed. Revolutionary Guard Air Force Commander Amir Ali Hajizadeh was seen examining the drone and listening to a description of its technology. Hajizadeh said his forces were aware that the drone was entering Iranian air space, and that it was intercepted with minimal damage. He added that Tehran understands the importance of the aircraft and its technology. U.S. officials acknowledged that the military lost control of one of its stealth drones while it was flying a mission over western Afghanistan, and Iran's official IRNA news agency said that Iran's armed forces shot it down. Speaking to reporters on Monday, Navy Capt. John Kirby, a Pentagon spokesman, said, "I think we're always concerned when there's an aircraft, whether it's manned or unmanned, that we lose, particularly in a place where we're not able to get to it." Both China and Russia took an interest in the drone, and requested from Tehran that they be permitted to send teams of experts to examine it. According to defense analyst Loren Thompson of the Virginia-based Lexington Institute, the U.S. Air Force has just "a handful" of the secretive drones. "This is an aircraft that evades radar because of its shape and because of the special material used. It won't enable the Iranians to build a stealthy unmanned aircraft," said Thompson. On Thursday, Iran's Foreign Ministry summoned Switzerland's ambassador in Tehran - who represents U.S. interests in the country - to officially protest the breach of Iran's sovereignty and demand compensation from the U.S. Media outlets in the U.S. reported on Thursday that due to the drone's highly valued technology, the U.S. government considered sending a team of commandos into Iran to either salvage the aircraft, which they believed was in pieces, or destroy it altogether before it could fall into Iranian hands. U.S. President Barack Obama reiterated the U.S. position of keeping all options on the table regarding Iran and its purported nuclear weapons program on Thursday. "No options off the table means I'm considering all options," he said. Obama also said that Iran is being sanctioned more severely than ever before and it is isolated in a world that is united against it. "Today Iran is isolated and the world is unified and applying the toughest sanctions that Iran's ever experienced, and that is having an impact inside of Iran. Iran understands that they have a choice. They can brave that isolation by acting responsibly and foreswearing the development of nuclear weapons which would still allow them to pursue peaceful nuclear power, or they can continue to operate in a fashion that isolates them from the entire world. And if they are pursuing nuclear weapons, then I have said very clearly that is contrary to the national security interests of the United States, it is contrary to the national security interests of our allies, including Israel, and we are going to work with the world community to prevent that," Obama said. Commenting on Republican party criticism that he has not acted harshly enough with Iran, Obama said, "Ask Osama bin Laden and the 22 out of 30 top al-Qaida leaders who've been taken off the field whether I engage in appeasement."
Iran displays US drone it purports to have downed this week
Iran showcases U.S. drone after apparently shooting it down on Sunday near border with Afghanistan • Reports claim the U.S. mulled sending commandos to Iran to collect fragments of the drone or destroy it before it fell into Iranian hands.
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