2nd LD: Iran says "wards off" U.S. drone

Iran identified a U.S. unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) east of the county on Monday and warned it to stay away from its airspace, Tasnim news agency reported.

The report said the drone was flying from a base in Afghanistan's Qandahar and intended to intrude into Iranian airspace.

It was approaching Iran's air borders but changed course after receiving a "timely warning" from the Iranian air defense system, Tasnim said.

Air Force Commander Brig. Gen. Farzad Esmaili said Iran's advanced air defense radar Nazir, which is capable of detecting small targets at long distances, identified the drone.

With the use of Nazir, no stealth aircraft will be able to intrude into Iran's airspace, Esmaili was quoted as saying.

Nazir can easily track ballistic and cruise missiles as well as radar-evading planes, the commander said.

On Dec. 4, 2011, Iran captured a Lockheed Martin RQ-170 unmanned stealth aircraft while the drone was flying over its eastern city of Kashmar.

Tehran said one of its electronic warfare units brought down the drone with minimal damage.

In April 2012, Brig. Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the aerospace commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), said IRGC's experts were recovering data from the drone.

Iran rejected Washington's request for the drone to be returned. Endit