Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Tuesday that it shot down a US MQ-9 drone and claimed that an RQ-4 drone and an F-35 fighter jet also entered Iranian airspace before retreating.
The aircraft entered Iranian airspace over the Gulf region, the IRGC said in a statement carried by Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency.
The force also said it reserves the right “to respond to any ceasefire violation by the aggressor US army.”
Earlier on Tuesday, Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency reported that US and Israeli aircraft struck Iranian vessels south of Larak Island near the Strait of Hormuz, killing what it described as “several Iranian nationals.”
The claims could not be independently verified.
The developments come amid Pakistan-led mediation efforts aimed at ending the conflict that began with US and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28 and was followed by Iranian retaliation.
A ceasefire took effect on April 8 and was later extended indefinitely by US President Donald Trump.
Iran supreme leader says region will no longer act as shield for US bases
Iran's supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei meanwhile said on Tuesday that regional countries would no longer be shields for US bases, in a written statement carried by state television.
"What is certain in this regard is that the hands of time will not turn backwards, and the nations and lands of the region will no longer serve as shields for American bases," said Khamenei, who has not appeared in public since he took office in March, in a message marking the Eid al Adha holiday.
He said the United States "in addition to no longer having any safe haven in the region for aggression and the establishment of military bases, is moving further and further away from its former position with each passing day".
Iran's foreign ministry has said Tehran and Washington reached understandings on many issues in exchanges over a deal for ending the war, but warned an agreement was not yet imminent.
On Monday, the US Central Command said forces attacked missile sites in southern Iran and boats trying to lay mines, despite the ceasefire.
