Iran summons Afghan diplomat over US drone flight

AP: Iran has summoned the Afghan ambassador to protest the violation of its airspace by a U.S. surveillance drone that took off from neighboring Afghanistan.

The Associated Press

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran has summoned the Afghan ambassador to protest the violation of its airspace by a U.S. surveillance drone that took off from neighboring Afghanistan.

The official IRNA news agency says Obeidollah Obeid was called to the Foreign Ministry to receive Iran’s protest and demand explanations from the Afghan government over the pilotless spy plane.

Iran’s state TV broadcast video Thursday of Iranian military officials inspecting what it identified as the RQ-170 Sentinel drone, and offered the first evidence that Tehran had captured the aircraft. The beige-colored drone appeared intact and undamaged.

Iranian state radio has said the unmanned aircraft was detected over the eastern town of Kashmar, some 140 miles (225 kilometers) from the border with Afghanistan.