Iran to take US aggression to intl. bodies

Speaking at a joint press conference with his visiting Namibian counterpart Utoni Nujoma in Tehran on Sunday, Ali Akbar Salehi said,” This measure by the Americans is an act of aggression.”

He added that Iran would be pursuing the case within the framework of international conventions and through all legal and judicial channels.

Salehi went on to say that Iran has complained to the UN Security Council about the blatant US violation of its airspace with a RQ-170 Sentinel spy aircraft, and is expected to discuss the issue with the OIC, NAM and other international institutions.

The Iranian foreign minister added that Americans have proven to have ill intentions towards the Iranian nation and Iran reserves the right to take legal actions against the recent US move.

Salehi also stressed that Iran is fully prepared to defend its territorial integrity against any possible act of aggression, adding that downing the RQ-170 Sentinel aircraft has clearly proven Iran's enormous capability in this regard.

Iranian Army's electronic warfare unit on December 4 downed with minimum damage the US RQ-170 Sentinel stealth aircraft which was flying over the eastern city of Kashmar, some 225km (140 miles) from the Afghan border.

Iran has announced that it intends to carry out reverse engineering on the captured RQ-170 Sentinel stealth aircraft, which is also known as the Beast of Kandahar, and is similar in design to a US Air Force B-2 stealth bomber.

On December 6, two US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that the drone was part of a CIA reconnaissance mission, involving the US intelligence community stationed in Afghanistan.

They claimed the reconnaissance capability of the RQ-170 Sentinel drone enabled it to gather information from inside Iran by flying along Afghanistan's border with the Islamic Republic.

The RQ-170 is an unmanned stealth aircraft designed and developed by the Lockheed Martin Company.

Meanwhile, Iran's Foreign Ministry has summoned the Swiss ambassador, who represents US interests in the country, and the Afghan ambassador to condemn the US violation of Iranian airspace.