Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said it destroyed a US MQ-1 drone over the Strait of Hormuz using a new advanced air-defense system Monday.
Key Takeaways
- The IRGC said its air defenses intercepted and destroyed a US Army MQ-1 drone over the Strait of Hormuz on Monday.
- According to the IRGC, the drone was brought down by a new advanced aerospace air-defense system integrated into Iran’s broader defense network.
- The IRGC said Washington had returned the older MQ-1 platform to service after suffering heavy losses among its MQ-9 drone fleet.
US Drone Downed over Hormuz
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced on Monday that its air defenses had intercepted and destroyed a US MQ-1 drone over the Strait of Hormuz.
“Moments ago, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s air defense system intercepted and destroyed another ‘MQ-1’ drone belonging to the terrorist US army in the skies over the Strait of Hormuz,” the IRGC said in a statement cited by Al Mayadeen.
According to Iran’s Mehr News Agency, the drone was destroyed by a new advanced aerospace air-defense system operating as part of Iran’s integrated air-defense network.
The Strait of Hormuz has become a major theater of military confrontation during the ongoing war, with Iranian forces reporting repeated interceptions of US reconnaissance and combat drones in the area.
The IRGC says it intercepted and destroyed another U.S. Army MQ-1C Gray Eagle unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) over the Strait of Hormuz. https://t.co/THyqrMVNxT
— OSINTWarfare (@OSINTWarfare) September 21, 2026
IRGC Points to US MQ-9 Losses
The IRGC said the United States had returned the MQ-1 platform to service after suffering significant losses among its more advanced MQ-9 drones.
According to the Iranian statement, the MQ-1 had accumulated approximately 20,000 flight hours during US military operations in Afghanistan before being retired and replaced by the MQ-9.
“After the destruction of a large portion of the MQ-9 fleet, the US has been forced to use this drone,” the IRGC said, according to Anadolu.
The MQ-1 interception came one day after the Iranian army announced that its air-defense forces had destroyed an Orbiter reconnaissance drone over the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran’s military said the reconnaissance aircraft was brought down by locally manufactured air-defense systems operated by forces in the southeast of the country.
🇮🇷🇺🇸 Iran’s IRGC says its air defenses destroyed another U.S. MQ-1 drone over the Strait of Hormuz. pic.twitter.com/365eiMWVZn
— KOSO🇳🇬 (@KosoNwa1) September 21, 2026
‘New Era’ for US Aircraft
The latest interception also followed remarks by Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who said US military aircraft were facing a new reality following Iranian strikes and interceptions.
Ghalibaf recently published a table detailing damage and losses involving American military aircraft during the war.
“The era has already begun in which your F-35 and F-15 aircraft are hunted down and you are required to report any damage they have sustained,” Ghalibaf wrote on X.
His remarks followed US media reports detailing damage to American military aircraft during Iranian strikes on US installations across the region.
(PC, Al Mayadeen, Mehr, AA)
Good. That drone should never have even been there. Dondolf Twitler has a whole bunch of brown smudges on his face, because Iran keeps wiping his nose in it! 😁
They did nothing wrong, they deserve peace.
Good for Iran and for humanity.
It is not HormUz. It is HormOz, related to God Ahuramazdah.
Give these arrogant warmongers a bloody nose they think they rule the world..they are corrupt to the core BB and Donald should be in jail they are war criminals,liars and thieves .they are the biggest terrorists in the world