Iran summons Afghan diplomat over U.S. drone flight

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Iran summons Afghan diplomat over U.S. drone flight

The Associated Press Published Saturday, December 10, 2011 2:16PM EST

This photo released on Thursday, Dec. 8, 2011, by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, claims to show US RQ-170 Sentinel drone which Tehran says its forces downed earlier this week, as the chief of the aerospace division of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, right, listens to an unidentified colonel, in an undisclosed location, Iran. (AP / Sepahnews)

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TEHRAN, Iran - Iran has summoned the Afghan ambassador to protest the violation of its airspace by a U.S. surveillance drone that took off from neighbouring Afghanistan.

The official IRNA news agency says Obeidollah Obeid was called to the Foreign Ministry to receive Iran's protest and demand explanations from the Afghan government over the pilotless spy plane.

Iran's state TV broadcast video Thursday of Iranian military officials inspecting what it identified as the RQ-170 Sentinel drone, and offered the first evidence that Tehran had captured the aircraft. The beige-colored drone appeared intact and undamaged.

Iranian state radio has said the unmanned aircraft was detected over the eastern town of Kashmar, some 225 kilometres from the border with Afghanistan.