Tehran - Irna
The Asia News Network said Iran is not to return back the US drone it recently downed in its territory. The network in its website on Wednesday quoted a number of Iranian officials on the downed US drone and said Iran regarded the US drone as its own property and will not hand it back to America. It noted that Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi has already stressed that the US drone now belonged to Iran and Tehran will decide what to do with it. Pointing out that Iranian officials have demanded the US officials to apologize for carrying out intelligence operations inside Iran, the website further noted that Iranian officials including Vahidi regard the US operation as an aggressive act and stress that Iran will never withdraw from its rights and interests. The news network said it seemed that the American president is ignoring the fact that the US drone has violated Iran’s airspace, carried out intelligence operations against Iran’s national interests, breached international laws and violated Iran’s territorial integrity.