Iran complains to UN over US spy drone

Iran said Friday it had formally lodged a complaint to the UN Security Council over a US drone it says violated its airspace, Tasnim news agency reported.

Iran "filed a complaint to the UN Security Council and the organisation's Secretary General after a US spy drone violated Iran's airspace and was shot down," Tasnim quoted deputy foreign minister Gholamhossein Dehghani as saying.

"The complaint states that Iran reserves the right to defend its airspace and confront any violation," he added.

Iran says it shot down the aircraft earlier this month after it violated Iranian airspace near the Strait of Hormuz, the latest in a series of incidents that have raised fears of a regional conflict.

The Pentagon denies the drone entered Iranian territory.

Official news agency IRNA reported that Iran had filed a complaint to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres over the incident.

It was not immediately possible to determine whether Dehghani was referring to the same complaint or a separate one.

Tehran and Washington have been locked in an escalating standoff since US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the multi-party 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and reimposed sanctions on the Islamic republic.

Tensions spiked last week when Iran shot down a US drone over sensitive Gulf waters following a series of tanker attacks that Washington blamed on Tehran, which has denied involvement.

Since then the arch-foes have continued to trade barbs, with Trump announcing new sanctions this week against Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.

Iran has threatened to abandon some of its commitments under the nuclear deal unless the remaining partners -- Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia -- help it circumvent US sanctions, especially to sell its oil.

Tehran, Iran | AFP