Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps claim to have opened fire on an F-35 fighter jet and shot down an American reaper drone – as tensions surge with peace talks at a critical phase.

The Islamic Republic announced on Tuesday that it had detected a hostile aircraft entering its airspace and opened fire on a drone, adding that it had a “legitimate and definite” right to retaliate against violations of the ceasefire between itself and the US.

It comes after the US carried out a series of strikes on targets in the Strait of Hormuz overnight, threating a fragile ceasefire between Washington and Tehran whilst peace talks take place in Qatar.

“U.S. forces conducted self-defense strikes in southern Iran today to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces,” CENTCOM spokesperson Tim Hawkins told the media on Monday evening.

“Targets included missile launch sites and Iranian boats attempting to emplace mines.”

Following the strikes, the IRGC said in a statement that they had since downed an MQ-9 Reaper drone and “fired upon an RQ-4 drone and an intruding F-35 fighter jet” attempting to enter their airspace.

The IRGC claimed its actions were defensive, and that they had a right to “respond to any ceasefire violation by the aggressor US army.”

The MQ-9 Reaper drone is the most advanced and expensive drone in the American military’s arsenal, with each one costing between $30-$35 million to produce.

Iran’s military has is believed to have destroyed around 30 MQ-9’s since the start of the war, costing the US over $1 billion and wiping out over 20% of their fleet of Reapers.

The ceasefire between the US and Iran went into effect on April 8, and saw both sides agree to a 40 day pause in hostilities.

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