TEHRAN -- The Islamic Revolution Guard Corps said its air defense systems intercepted and destroyed a U.S. MQ-1 drone over Qeshm Island in the Persian Gulf on Saturday, while its navy reported that two oil tankers attempting an unauthorized transit of the Strait of Hormuz struck Iranian naval mines and caught fire.
In a statement, the IRGC’s public relations office said the drone was shot down at around 2:30 p.m. by an advanced air defense system operated by the IRGC Aerospace Force. 
It described the aircraft as a reconnaissance and combat drone belonging to the U.S. military’s 

MQ-1 family and called the interception “another failure of enemy reconnaissance missions.”
According to the IRGC, the downing brings the number of U.S. MQ-1 drones it has destroyed to 17, and it said its forces have so far shot down 56 MQ-9 drones. 
The MQ-1 Predator is a medium-altitude, long-endurance remotely piloted aircraft developed by General Atomics and operated primarily by the U.S. Air Force, widely used in U.S. military and surveillance operations across the West Asia region and beyond.
The IRGC said the latest downing came amid heightened tensions in the region and repeated warnings by American officials and Israel of fresh aggression against Iran. 
Since the war began on Feb. 28, Iranian forces have intercepted and shot down dozens of U.S. aircraft, including both drones and manned fighter jets, according to the IRGC.
The IRGC Aerospace Force said U.S. weapons and military equipment captured by Iran during the recent wars are undergoing reverse engineering and redesign.
Separately, Iran’s Navy said a tanker caught fire and was immobilized after hitting a naval mine while sailing in a prohibited area east of the Strait of Hormuz despite previous warnings. 
In a statement, the Navy said the vessel had switched off its tracking and identification systems while transiting the unsafe zone, and warned that any tanker entering the prohibited area would face the same fate. It criticized owners for risking their assets based on the “nonsense” of U.S. President Donald Trump.
The statement came hours after the IRGC Navy said two oil tankers attempting a covert, unauthorized transit through the southern Strait of Hormuz exploded and caught fire after hitting Iranian naval mines. 
The IRGC Navy Public Relations Office said late on Friday that the vessels were attempting to secretly navigate a prohibited route in the strategic waterway and had deliberately disabled their radar and Automatic Identification Systems to evade detection.
The force of the mine strikes triggered massive explosions and severe fires. According to the statement, the towering flames from one of the vessels, identified as a supertanker, lit up the night sky along the southern coasts of the strait, serving as a glaring visual warning to other ships in the area.
The IRGC Navy warned global ship owners and maritime shipping companies that any attempt to transit the Strait of Hormuz without prior coordination with its traffic control center, or any disregard for Iran’s sovereign maritime arrangements, would result in “the exact same destructive consequences.”
The incidents are the latest in a series of failed attempts by smugglers and U.S.-linked vessels to bypass its maritime enforcement in the Persian Gulf. 
Following the war that began on Feb. 28, Tehran imposed comprehensive restrictions on the waterway, which carries roughly one-fifth of the world’s global oil supply. Under Iran’s newly enforced Hormuz mechanism, safe passage requires explicit authorization from Iranian authorities.
Despite repeated assurances from the U.S. military that it would provide naval escorts and protect commercial shipping, vessels trusting Washington’s security guarantees have been consistently halted, struck by mines, or destroyed. 
Iranian commanders have repeatedly said American promises of protection have proven hollow, exposing the U.S. military’s inability to secure the waterway or break Iran’s strategic chokehold.
The maritime restrictions have sent global energy prices soaring, triggering severe inflation in Western nations.