Iran Shows Off Downed Drone

Iran backed up its boast that it had downed a US spy drone by showing it off on state-run TV today, giving viewers a good long look at the aircraft while Revolutionary Guard Aerospace commander Amir Ali Hajizadeh cooed over it. "Military experts are well aware of how precious the technological information of this drone is," Hajizadeh said, according to Israel's Haaretz.

The drone is "equipped with highly advanced surveillance, data gathering, electronic communication and radar systems," and is designed to evade radar, Hajizadeh said. "It is amongst the most recent types of advanced aircraft used by the US." US officials have acknowledged losing one of their RQ-170 drones near western Afghanistan, and some military officials have expressed concern that Iran will be able to glean classified info from it. (More Iran stories.)