Iran’s representative to the Vienna-based UN nuclear body, Reza Najafi, sent a protest letter to IAEA Chief Yukiya Amano, describing the August incursion by an Israeli spy drone into the Iranian airspace as “brazen violation of Iran’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.”
“The act is also considered as a threat to the regional peace and security, and it needs to be condemned in the strongest terms by the international community as a hostile move,” Najafi said in the letter.
He added that Israel’s measure also contravenes the resolutions passed by the IAEA General Conference on prohibition of armed attacks against the nuclear installations devoted to peaceful purposes.
Iran reserves the right to take whatever legal action to defend its territorial integrity, the envoy added, noting that such “provocative moves” will have dire consequences for the aggressors.
The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) on August 24 tracked and shot down a radar-evading stealth Israeli drone which was intending to penetrate the airspace over Natanz nuclear zone.
The intruding “Hermes” unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was intercepted by a surface-to-air missile.