The Revolutionary Guard on Friday unveiled a new video of a naval missile defense system that downed an American military drone in southern Iranian airspace a year ago amid rising tensions between the two countries.
The five-minute-long video was released by Fars and Tasnim news agencies affiliated with the Revolutionary Guard (IRGC). It shows research laboratories where apparently the missile system was developed as well as what appears to be a production line and images of the system's installation on the deck of a Revolutionary Guard logistics vessel, Shahid Siavoshi.
The video is an attempt to show Iran's missile developments as an advanced scientific program. In the second half of the video the authors make allusions to the June 2019 incident when Iran shot down a U.S. drone in the Persian Gulf. Footage taken from U.S. military videos shows the preparation and take off of a U.S. drone. The video also includes a random animation of a drone circling Australia.
The missile system, according to Fars News Agency, has the capability of simultaneous engagement with four different targets. The primary missile operated by the homegrown system – dubbed as Khordad 3 -- is Taer-2 surface to air missile but the system can also launch Sayyad 2C missiles.
The IRGC on June 20, 2019 shot down the surveillance drone over the strait of Hormuz for alleged violation of Iranian airspace and published a video of the attack a day later on a Twitter account attributed to the Armed Forces. The United States, however, maintains that the drone was in international airspace.
President Donald Trump called the downing a "very big mistake," fueling fears that simmering tensions between the two countries may boil over into a military conflict. However, the U.S. response changed to cyber-attacks authorized by Trump on the Guard's missile control systems and new sanctions against several individuals including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and IRGC's top brass.
Iran retrieved parts of the drone in the Iranian waters in the Persian Gulf and put them on display at a press conference on June 21.
