Iran has demanded explanations from two Gulf states equipped with Chinese-made Wing Loong II drones after one was reportedly shot down in the war with the United States and Israel.
Both the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia are known to have the reconnaissance and precision strike drones in their arsenals.
The drone was shot down over the city of Shiraz on Thursday, according to Esmail Baqaei, a spokesman for the Iranian foreign ministry.
Baqaei posted photos of drone wreckage on social media, saying it could be “evidence of direct participation and active complicity” by some neighbouring countries “in the crime of aggression and war crimes committed by the United States and Israel against Iran”.
He added: “[Clarification] is needed by either of the TWO STATES of the region that are the users of this drone!”
Images of the destroyed aircraft were initially circulated by Iran’s Tasnim news agency, which claimed it was an American MQ-9 Reaper. The debris was later identified as a Wing Loong II, which is of a similar size and appearance.
