Iran says it brought down US drones near Strait of Hormuz; claims unverified

Iranian media on Monday, Nov 2, reported that two US unmanned aerial vehicles had been downed or captured near the Strait of Hormuz, according to posts on X that relayed the reports ¹. The claims have not been independently verified, and accounts differ on how many aircraft were involved and what types they were.

A post by @FaytuksNetwork said Iranian media were circulating reports that two US drones had been brought down or seized ¹. Iranian outlets including Mehr and Tasnim carried a statement attributed to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force. The statement said two US MQM-170 reconnaissance drones were brought down south of Qeshm Island using electronic warfare, and that this raised to four the number of drones of that type Iran had captured.

Some accounts also included a larger US drone. A post by @OSINTWarfare referred to an IRGC downing of an MQ-9 armed drone ². A separate post by @shogri786 said Iranian air defences had intercepted and destroyed a US military drone east of the Strait of Hormuz, citing video and official statements released by Iranian state media ³. Some outlets described the episode as involving three drones, while others presented the MQ-9 claim as a separate incident. The available posts do not settle which aircraft were involved.

There has been no on-the-record statement from US Central Command or the Pentagon on the drone claims. Some media reports citing unnamed US officials said Washington rejected the IRGC account, and other outlets said no US statement had confirmed or denied any drone losses. No casualties were reported in connection with the drone claims ¹³.

The reports came on the same day as reported US strikes on Qeshm Island and reported explosions in Bandar Abbas and other Iranian cities. Several media outlets, citing unnamed US military sources, said US forces struck an IRGC missile launcher on Qeshm after a US aircraft came under attack. That account has also not been confirmed on the record.

The claims follow similar Iranian announcements in recent days. Iran's state news agency IRNA reported the previous Friday that an MQM-170 had been downed over Qeshm by electronic warfare. The episode comes amid a US-Iran war that began on Feb. 28, 2026, and a US naval blockade that Tehran has demanded be lifted as talks remain stalled. Iran has made comparable claims in the past, including its 2011 announcement that it had captured a US RQ-170 drone.

It remains unclear whether Iran will release imagery of the drones it says it seized, and whether the MQ-9 claim refers to the same incident or a separate one ²³.