TEHRAN

The Iranian military said Monday it was capable of shooting down any U.S. spy drone, a few days after Tehran shot down a reconnaissance aircraft over the Strait of Hormuz.

"The enemy dispatched its most advanced, sophisticated and intelligent surveillance aircraft to the restricted zone, and everyone saw the downing of this unmanned aerial vehicle,” Navy Commander Rear Admiral Hossein Khanzadi said in statements cited by Iranian Press TV.

"I assure you that this crushing response can be repeated again and again at all times, and the enemy knows this very well,” he said.

Tehran says the aircraft violated its airspace when it was attacked last week, Washington, however, maintains it was in international airspace.

Tensions have been rising between the U.S. and Iran since May 2018 when Washington unilaterally withdrew from a landmark 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany and the EU.

The U.S. has since embarked upon a diplomatic and economic campaign to ramp up pressure on Iran to force it to renegotiate the agreement.

Part of its campaign has included the re-imposition of U.S. sanctions on exports of Iranian crude oil, which has sent the Iranian economy into a nosedive.