Iran says warned off US ‘spy plane’: Tasnim

The Navy of the Islamic Republic of Iran on Sunday said that it identified and warned off a US Navy EP-3E aircraft after it entered the country’s border close to the Gulf of Oman, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.

While the opening line of the Tasnim report said the US Navy EP-3E aircraft had crossed into Iranian airspace, it later said the aircraft had not entered Iranian skies and had left after the warning.

“After the warning, the plane was prevented from entering the country’s skies without authorization,” the report said. 

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The Iranian naval forces have detected an aircraft operated by the US Navy over the Sea of Oman and forced it to avoid the country’s airspace after issuing a warning, the Navy said.

The Iranian Navy’s public relations department said on Sunday afternoon that an EP-3E airplane of the US Navy was about to intrude into Iran’s airspace over the Sea of Oman.

The vigilant Iranian naval forces gave the plane a warning and blocked its unauthorized entry into the Iranian airspace, it added.

The American aircraft has reportedly heeded the warning, stayed away from the Iranian aerial border and returned to the international routes.

The Lockheed EP-3 is an electronic signals reconnaissance variant of the P-3 Orion, operated by the US Navy.