Vahidi told reporters on Sunday that aside from Washington confirming that the aircraft belongs to the US, “the country has behaved in a manner that suggests the drone belongs to them.”
Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) captured the drone over the waters of the Persian Gulf upon its intrusion into Iranian airspace in early December.
The ScanEagle drone, which has a 10ft (about 3m) wingspan, is a long-endurance aircraft built by Insitu, a subsidiary of Boeing.
This is not the first time that the US has violated Iran’s airspace with an unmanned aerial vehicle. In December 2011, the Iranian military grounded a US RQ-170 spy aircraft while it was flying over the city of Kashmar, some 140 miles (225km) from the Afghan border.
“The violation of Iran’s borders by any country is problematic and in response the Islamic Republic of Iran has given necessary warnings and if necessary it will issue these warnings in writing,” the Iranian minister continued.
Vahidi was alluding to letters presented by Iran’s Ambassador to the UN Mohammad Khazaei to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the UN Security Council in protest to the US Navy’s 'illegal and provocative acts' in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman.
The letters urged the UN chief to warn the US “against the continuation of acts in violation of international law and of the adverse consequences of any provocative and dangerous acts for which the United States government would be held responsible.”
“Iran must be sensitive about the performance of transregional forces in the [Persian Gulf] region and must issue warnings when necessary,” Vahidi noted.
press tv/281
