Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has released drone footage of an American aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf, at a time when crucial talks are underway on the US-Iran nuclear deal in Vienna.
The video released via Iran’s Tasnim news agency and the Iranian state-owned Press TV news network is seen as an attempt to intimidate the US military. The video, purportedly shot by onboard cameras of an armed UAV undergoing flight tests, shows a US Navy aircraft carrier operating in the Persian Gulf.
The IRGC “released strikingly precise and close footage of an American aircraft carrier captured by the elite force’s drones during an overflight of the vessel in the… Gulf… as means of vividly portraying its state-of-the-art advancements in the field of drone technology,” Press TV reported.
However, the exact location and the timing of the footage are still unclear and The EurAsian Times could not independently verify the same.
Iran's IRGC drone takes precise footage as it flies over US aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf pic.twitter.com/q0xEfoty7v
— Press TV (@PressTV) April 21, 2021
The Iranian news outlets are portraying this as IRGC’s enhanced capabilities using armed drones and the vulnerability of an American carrier battle group. Hornets, Seahawk helicopters, and Hawkeye AWACS could be seen on the carrier.
Meanwhile, the Press TV also posted a video showing footage of IRGC’s new suicide drone test flight.
UPDATE
Iran’s IRGC also released footage of its suicide drone test flight pic.twitter.com/t4PCUpFthz— Press TV (@PressTV) April 21, 2021
“The second part of the footage is entitled to precision attacks by the IRGC’s kamikaze drones as they are hitting various targets, including a tank. The UAVs are seen slamming into the targets with surgical accuracy and smashing them into smithereens,” the report said, adding that it’s not the first time the IRGC “flaunted its achievements and prowess” in drone technology.
Nevertheless, if the videos are indeed true, it could be an embarrassment for the American carriers for an Iranian kamikaze drone to come so close and acquire footage of its operations – and its possible vulnerability to precision airstrikes from bigger Iranian UAVs.
