Iran Claims It Has Tracked and Warned U-2 Spy Plane over Its Airspace

Iran’s air defense chief, Brig. Gen. Farzad Esmaeli said today in Mashhad that his command tracked a U.S. U2 spy plane over Iranian skies last week and warned to shoot it down by missile, forcing the U-2 to leave the airspace. The Pentagon has not confirmed the claim yet. In March 2013, Iran also said it had tracked and warned another U-2 spy plane.

File photo: A Lockheed U-2S in flight (Wikipedia)

Iran Repels U-2 Reconnaissance Plane – Military

Commander of Iran's Khatam al-Anbiya Air Defense Base Brig. Gen. Farzad Esmaili reported today that his forces repelled an American U-2 reconnaissance plane as it was trying to enter Iran's southern airspace. The incident reportedly happened on 10 February when Iran was celebrating the 34th anniversary of Islamic revolution. 

“The U.S. U-2 plane was flying from Pakistan's southwest to the east of the Sea of Oman and was being monitored by our radar and electronic surveillance systems every moment,” Gen. Esmaili said, adding that Iran's Persian Gulf radar gave it a warning when it was trying to enter Iran's airspace above the Sea of Oman and southeast of the Strait of Hormuz. (IRNA/Press TV, 12 March)

File photo: U-2 at low altitude over Korea in 2011 (AP/VOA)