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Incident Goes Down Over Persian Gulf
By Harold Hutchison

An Iranian military jet pursued an American unmanned aerial vehicle over the Persian Gulf. The incident, on 12 March, ended only when escorting American aircraft gave a verbal warning to the Iranian jet.

The MQ-1 Predator, a UAV that has been the backbone of the American UAV force for both the Air Force and Central Intelligence Agency, was conducting a routine mission a “routine classified surveillance flight” over the Persian Gulf at the time of the incident. An Iranian F-4 Phantom was launched, and attempted to intercept the UAV, but got no closer than 16 miles until it was warned off by escorting American fighters.

In November, the Iranian military fired two missiles at another UAV. The incident occurred over the Arabian Sea.