Iran claims US drone downing, warns of Hormuz changes
Shafaq News- Tehran
Iran’s military shot down a US LUCAS drone over the southern port city of Bandar Abbas, the state-run IRNA news agency said on Sunday.
The Iranian Army air defense units destroyed the aircraft using systems linked to the country’s integrated air defense network, according to IRNA, which did not specify when the incident occurred. The US military has not confirmed the claim.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also warned on Sunday that shipping routes and arrangements for managing the Strait of Hormuz would not return to their prewar form following recent regional conflicts. Speaking at a ceremony inaugurating a documentation center and museum dedicated to the late Kamal Kharazi, Araghchi recalled that Iran and Oman had previously maintained open passage through the waterway but argued that the conflict had created “a new security reality.”
Addressing the possibility of renewed military action against Iran, he cautioned that another attack would produce the same outcome as previous confrontations.
Araghchi called for a regional security framework without foreign military involvement, accusing outside forces of “prioritizing Israel’s security” over that of their host countries and expressing Tehran’s readiness for bilateral and multilateral talks with Gulf states.
He also maintained that Middle East conflicts could not be resolved separately, saying that Iran had sought an agreement covering all fronts during indirect negotiations with Washington mediated by Pakistan, Qatar, and other countries.
Tensions over the Strait of Hormuz have persisted since Washington resumed its naval blockade of Iranian ports in July, with US Central Command reporting this month that American forces redirected 138 commercial vessels, while Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) warned companies on October 9 against following US instructions and threatened ships using “unauthorized routes.”
The waterway also remains central to indirect US-Iran negotiations. Tehran has proposed reopening Hormuz and resuming nuclear talks in exchange for lifting the US blockade, easing restrictions on Iranian oil sales, and restoring a regional ceasefire, although the two sides remain divided over the sequence of these measures.
On Saturday, US President Donald Trump raised the possibility of striking Iran as early as October 25 or reaching a major agreement with Tehran. Speaking to reporters, he declined to disclose the timing of any operation and questioned whether Iran would accept a deal, asserting that Washington would prevail either way.
Read more: How Iran’s ‘unity of fronts’ is changing across the Middle East
