.

.

Tehran/Washington — September 14, 2026

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said Monday its forces intercepted and destroyed a U.S. MQ-1 drone over the Strait of Hormuz, the latest in a series of claimed aerial interceptions amid the ongoing conflict between Iran and the United States.

In a statement carried by Iranian state media, the IRGC’s Public Relations Department said the drone was brought down by what it described as a new, advanced air defence system operated by the IRGC Aerospace Force, working within Iran’s integrated air defence network. The statement gave no further details on the drone’s mission or point of origin.

The claim has not been independently confirmed. U.S. Central Command had not responded to or verified the account as of this writing, and no independent visual or documentary evidence of the incident has surfaced. It remains unclear whether the “MQ-1” designation refers to the original MQ-1 Predator, officially retired from U.S. service in 2018, or the still-active MQ-1C Gray Eagle variant.

Part of a broader pattern

Monday’s claim marks at least the second high-profile aerial interception Iran has announced over the Hormuz corridor in recent days; Iran’s regular Army air defence units reported downing a separate U.S. MQ-1 drone in the same area roughly a week earlier. Iranian forces have claimed a series of such interceptions over the past decade, including the 2019 downing of an RQ-4 Global Hawk, and have said they have captured or destroyed multiple MQ-9 Reaper drones during the current conflict. According to reporting cited by Antiwar.com, the Pentagon has acknowledged losing an MQ-1-designated drone in recent months, and a Washington Post report last month put total U.S. MQ-9 Reaper losses at 45 aircraft — roughly a quarter of the fleet — since the war with Iran began.

The reported incident comes amid a conflict between the U.S., Israel, and Iran that has continued despite repeated ceasefire attempts since February 2026, with U.S. forces reportedly remaining in active combat operations against Iran. The Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly 20% of the world’s seaborne oil supply passes daily, has become a central flashpoint in the conflict, with military activity there carrying the potential to disrupt global shipping and energy markets on short notice.

Cumulative U.S. losses since the war began

Estimates of total U.S. military hardware destroyed since the conflict — often referred to as Operation Epic Fury — began on February 28, 2026, have grown steadily and vary somewhat depending on the source and reporting date:

• A Congressional Research Service report cited by Stars and Stripes in May 2026 put U.S. losses at 42 aircraft lost or damaged, including 24 MQ-9 Reaper drones, an MQ-4C Triton, four F-15E fighter jets (three lost to friendly fire from Kuwaiti air defences), an A-10 Thunderbolt II, two MC-130J Commando II special operations aircraft deliberately destroyed on the ground during a rescue mission, a KC-135 refuelling tanker that crashed in Iraq killing its six-member crew, and an HH-60W Jolly Green II helicopter damaged by small-arms fire.
• Bloomberg reported in May 2026 that Iran had destroyed more than two dozen MQ-9 Reaper drones worth nearly $1 billion combined, representing roughly 20% of the Pentagon’s prewar inventory of the aircraft.
• By mid-August 2026, The Washington Post reported U.S. officials confirming the Reaper toll alone had climbed to at least 45 aircraft — about 25% of the entire fleet — with each drone costing between $30 million and $50 million depending on its sensor and weapons configuration.
• An independent open-source tracker, GlobalMilitary.net, recorded 175 total documented military equipment losses across all parties as of its most recent update on September 9, 2026 — 143 aircraft and 32 naval vessels combined — attributing 67 to 69 aircraft losses specifically to the United States, alongside 81 to Iran and 21 to Israel.
• A separate compilation cited by aviation outlet Afterburner put total conflict-wide aircraft losses at roughly 130, with the U.S. accounting for the largest single share at around 55, and noted that Pentagon acting comptroller Jules Hurst testified to Congress in May 2026 that the estimated cost of military operations against Iran had reached $29 billion — a figure covering equipment repair and replacement but not the full scope of damage sustained.

These figures are compiled from a mix of official U.S. government disclosures, congressional testimony, and open-source intelligence tracking, and continue to be updated as the conflict proceeds; exact totals differ across sources depending on methodology and reporting date. None of the tallies above have been independently confirmed against Monday’s specific MQ-1 shootdown claim, which — if verified — would add to this running total.