Tehran, July 13 -- Iran's army claimed on Monday that its air defences shot down a US drone over the southern city of Bandar Abbas, the country's semi-official Mehr News Agency reported.

Citing an official military briefing, Mehr stated that anti-aircraft contingents stationed in south-eastern Iran detected, tracked and destroyed "a hostile Lucas-type" drone operating within the airspace of Bandar Abbas County in the vicinity of Hajiabad.

The news outlet further noted that the military indicated the shoot-down took place at a time when air defence teams were actively engaged in countering "enemy attacks and securing the country's airspace."

In a significant escalation across the theatre of operations, the United States today released f...