UN Chief Unable To Verify Facts On Downed Iranian Drone - Spokesman

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres cannot verify the facts surrounding reports of an Iranian drone being downed by the United States due to the lack of first-hand information on the matter, UN spokesman Farhan Haq said in a press briefing on Friday

UNITED NATIONS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th July, 2019) United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres cannot verify the facts surrounding reports of an Iranian drone being downed by the United States due to the lack of first-hand information on the matter, UN spokesman Farhan Haq said in a press briefing on Friday.

"We do not have any first-hand information to verify any of the facts on this matter, which you know are under some sort of dispute," Haq told reporters.

Haq also reiterated the United Nations' call for all parties to exercise restraint and prevent any escalation in the region.

President Donald Trump on Thursday announced that the United States downed an Iranian drone in the Strait of Hormuz, but senior Iranian military officials and diplomats disputed the assertion.

The Pentagon said the drone came within a "threatening range" of a US warship in the Strait of Hormuz before being shot down in a defensive action.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif later on Thursday refuted the account, saying the Islamic Republic has no information about any of its drone being shot down by the United States.

Iranian Armed Forces's spokesman Brig. Gen. Abolfazl Shekarchi on Friday said all Iranian drones in the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz had returned to their bases safely.

Tensions between the United States and Iran have been escalating last year, when the United States withdrew from the international nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic.

In May, the US began stepping up its military forces in the middle East to ward off what it said was a threat from Iran, deploying an aircraft carrier strike group, fighter jets and Patriot missiles to the region.

In June, Iran said it shot down a US Navy drone that crossed into Iranian territory. The Pentagon insisted that the aircraft was in international territory, calling the incident an "unprovoked" attack.