TEHRAN – Iran’s military might deterred the United States from taking any action after the Islamic Republic shot down an American RQ-4 Global Hawk drone over the Strait of Hormuz, said Iranian Armed Forces Chief of Staff Mohammad Hossein Baqeri.

“Following the downing of the RQ-4 Global Hawk drone, if the U.S. decided to attack us but eventually called off the attack on the pretext of avoiding casualties, it is because of Iran’s deterrence power,” Major General Baqeri said on Wednesday, Tasnim reported.

“This is due to the Iranian mindset and the measures of the Commander-in-Chief [Ayatollah Ali Khamenei],” he added.

In spite of all the problems, the Islamic Republic is so powerful in the defense industry and ensuring security that it will not allow any war to break out, the top general stressed.

Baqeri also said the Iranian armed forces have no limitations in boosting their research capabilities, even in non-industrial projects.

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) announced on June 20 that a U.S. spy drone that violated the Iranian territorial airspace in the early hours of the day was shot down by the IRGC Aerospace Force’s air defense unit near the Kooh-e-Mobarak region in the southern province of Hormozgan.

The intruding drone was shot by Iran’s homegrown air defense missile system “Khordad-3rd”.

In comments made a few hours after the incident, IRGC Chief Major General Hossein Salami said the shooting down of the U.S. drone had a straightforward message that any foreign intrusion into Iranian territories would draw a crushing response.

U.S. President Donald Trump later said the U.S. had been “cocked and loaded” to retaliate against Iran after he learned an Iranian missile system shot down a U.S. military drone.

However, the U.S. president claimed he decided to call off the mission after he learned 150 Iranians would die as a result of the strike.

MH/