Rejecting US navy claims that a drone made an “unsafe approach” to a US aircraft carrier, the statement says all aerial operations in Iran’s ADIZ are carried out in accordance with the standard safety regulations.
Earlier on Monday, US Navy spokesman Lieutenant Ian McConnaughey said in a statement that an Iranian QOM-1 drone flew within 300 meters (1,000 feet) of the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier in international waters on Sunday night, calling it an 'unsafe and unprofessional' incident.
McConnaughey said, 'Despite repeated radio calls to establish communications and remain clear, the QOM-1's controlling station was unresponsive and the (drone) did not use any aircraft navigation lights while it made several passes in close proximity to Nimitz and its escort ships during active flight operations, coming within 1,000 feet of US aircraft.'
Also, last week on Tuesday, the US navy announced in a statement that an Iranian drone flew within 30 meters (about 100 feet) of a US Navy F/A-18, forcing the jet to take evasive action as it attempted to land on the USS Nimitz in the Persian Gulf.
The statement said the drone didn’t seem to be armed and the ship attempted to radio the drone control center to warn about it.
