TEHRAN — Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Saturday, November 14, that its air defences intercepted and destroyed a United States MQ-1 drone over Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz — a claim the United States has not publicly confirmed.

In a statement carried by Iranian state media, the IRGC's public relations office said the drone was shot down at around 2:30 p.m. local time by an advanced air defence system operated by the IRGC Aerospace Force, which had detected the aircraft over the island. The corps described the MQ-1 as a reconnaissance and combat drone and called the interception another failure of enemy reconnaissance missions.

Source: Anadolu Agency report via Middle East Monitor, Nov 14, 2026

The IRGC said the downing brings to 17 the number of US MQ-1 drones it has destroyed, and said its forces have so far shot down 56 MQ-9 drones. Those totals are the corps' own claims; no wreckage, serial number or footage of the latest interception was presented in the statement, and Washington has not publicly confirmed several of Tehran's earlier drone claims.

17thMQ-1 drone the IRGC says it has destroyed — its own count
56MQ-9 drones the IRGC says it has shot down so far — its own claim
2:30 p.m.Local time the IRGC said the drone was shot down over Qeshm Island

The latest in a series of Qeshm claims

The claim follows a similar IRGC announcement on November 6, when the corps said it had shot down a 16th US MQ-1 drone over Qeshm Island. Qeshm, Iran's largest island, sits at the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz, the waterway through which about a fifth of the world's oil passes and where Iranian and US forces have repeatedly confronted each other during the current war.

On November 6 the IRGC made a similar claim over the same island — Saturday's statement is the next in that series, and remains unconfirmed by the United States. Read: IRGC claimed 16th MQ-1 drone over Qeshm on November 6

War context: Hormuz, tankers and a possible pause

The United States and Israel launched the war against Iran on February 28. Since then the Strait of Hormuz has been the conflict's most dangerous chokepoint, with Iran reporting further tanker mine strikes in the strait this week and the United Nations urging both sides to let fertiliser shipments through. On Saturday, Reuters also reported that President Donald Trump has told advisers he may hold off on new attacks on Iran barring new provocations — a context in which an unconfirmed drone claim, if acted on, could be read in Washington as exactly such a provocation.

Awaaz Punjab is reporting the Qeshm shootdown strictly as an IRGC claim, attributed to the corps and carried by Anadolu Agency, TASS and Iranian state media. No independent confirmation of the drone's loss was available at the time of publication.