Data on downed US drone decrypted: IRGC Cmdr.

Iran has easily cracked the codes on the data of the drone’s operations and tasks recorded on the aircraft’s memory, said Navy Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi.

There were “numerous codes, but we obtained all the information on its memory, including protocols, repairs and flight sorties; for instance, the data of a flight after repairs in 2010 or the [drone’s] deployment in the operation against [slain al-Qaeda leader Osama] bin Laden in Pakistan,” IRNA quoted the commander as saying on Sunday.

On December 4, the Iranian military's electronic warfare unit announced that the country successfully downed the US RQ-170 Sentinel stealth reconnaissance aircraft inside Iran with minimal damage.

The aircraft, designed and developed by the American company Lockheed Martin, had crossed into Iran's airspace over the border with neighboring Afghanistan.

The naval commander also criticized the presence of extra-regional forces in the Persian Gulf and stated, “The Islamic Republic has dominance over the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz.”