Iran's Army Navy — the regular navy, separate from the Revolutionary Guards — said on Friday, November 13, that it shot down a United States MQ-1 Predator drone near the coastal area of Kuhestak, in Iran's southern Hormozgan province, according to the state news agency IRNA. The navy said the drone was intercepted and destroyed by an air-defence system operating under the country's integrated air-defence network along the coast of Sirik, east of the Strait of Hormuz.
Source: IRNA via Hathalyoum, Nov 14, 2026
The semi-official ISNA news agency shared photos of the supposed downed drone, CBS News reported in its live coverage, adding that the Iranian army said a new air-defence system was responsible. The US military did not immediately comment on whether one of its drones was shot down, and US Central Command declined to comment on the claim, according to reports summarising the Iranian statement. No independently verified wreckage, serial number or coordinates have been published.
Source: CBS News live coverage via Ya Libnan, Nov 14, 2026
What is solid
- Iran's Army Navy issued the claim on Friday, November 13, via IRNA: an MQ-1 was tracked and destroyed near Kuhestak, on the Sirik coast east of the Strait of Hormuz, by a newly deployed naval air-defence system.
- The United States has not confirmed losing a drone; CENTCOM declined to comment.
- The claim is separate from the same day's Bahrain radar exchange, in which the US denied Iran's claim to have destroyed an early-warning radar and said two Iranian attack drones launched at Bahrain were shot down by US forces.
What is only claimed
- Whether an MQ-1 was actually shot down — Iran says yes and ISNA published photos it says show the drone; no independent verification exists.
- The drone's mission, operator unit and the exact time of the alleged shoot-down — none has been established outside Iranian statements.
One claim in a week of claims
The MQ-1 claim came on the same day the United States rejected a separate Iranian claim — by the Revolutionary Guards — to have destroyed a US early-warning radar installation in Bahrain, acknowledging that Iran launched two attack drones at Bahrain but saying both were shot down by US forces. It also follows a pattern this desk has tracked through the war: the Guards claimed a 14th MQ-1 downed off Sirik on October 29 and a 16th over Qeshm Island on November 6, neither confirmed by Washington. Friday's claim is the first in this sequence attributed to the regular Army Navy rather than the Guards.
Source: CBS News live coverage via Ya Libnan, Nov 14, 2026
The Bahrain radar claim and the Sirik tower strike that preceded it were covered by this desk on November 12. Read: Iran's Bahrain radar claim and the US denial
Background and what it means for the Gulf
The MQ-1 Predator is a medium-altitude, long-endurance remotely piloted aircraft developed by General Atomics and operated primarily by the US Air Force. The claim lands on day 259 of the US-Iran war that began on February 28, 2026, with the Strait of Hormuz — the waterway that normally carries about one-fifth of the world's oil — still the war's central pressure point, and with Washington saying this week that it does not need a deal with Tehran to end the war.
Source: IRNA via Hathalyoum, Nov 14, 2026
For the lakhs of Punjabi and Indian workers across the Gulf states that line the strait — in Oman, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia — each new claimed shoot-down near Hormuz is a direct safety signal: it raises the risk of a wider exchange around the shipping lanes and airspace their jobs and remittances depend on. No casualties were reported in connection with Friday's drone claim.
Source: CBS News live coverage via Ya Libnan, Nov 14, 2026
What happens next: the claim now waits on Washington. A US confirmation, denial, or the publication of verifiable wreckage evidence by Tehran would settle it; until then it stands as an Iranian claim, labelled as such. This desk will update the story if either side provides evidence.