Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed it shot down an American MQ-9 Reaper drone and targeted additional U.S. military aircraft amid soaring tensions in the Persian Gulf. The IRGC says it also fired upon a U.S. RQ-4 surveillance drone and targeted an American F-35 stealth fighter jet after the aircraft allegedly entered Iranian airspace. Tehran claims its forces forced the U.S. warplanes to retreat following what it described as a rapid retaliatory response. The dramatic escalation came just hours after U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed American forces destroyed two IRGC mine-laying speedboats in the Strait of Hormuz and struck an active missile site in Bandar Abbas.