TEHRAN – Members of the Assembly of Experts have issued a statement to express their gratitude to the aerospace unit of the IRGC after it shot down a trespassing American drone in the Gulf of Oman, ISNA reported on Saturday.

“The downing of the highly advanced U.S. spy drone by the powerful hand of the brave Guards of the Islamic Revolution not only showed a small portion of the might and progress of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s defense industry, but also served as a humiliating defeat and a memorable lesson for the criminal America and also disrupted their technical and military calculations,” the statement read.

It said that the Islamic Republic is entitled to pursue the case legally through international bodies and that the shooting down of the U.S. drone was the legal right of the Islamic Republic.

The Assembly of Experts also strongly condemned the trespassing of the drone into Iranian airspace, saying the Islamic Republic is ready to respond to any act of aggression while it will not start a war.

MH/PA