The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has ridiculed US Central Command chief Gen. Brad Cooper over his recent podcast appearance, challenging him to explain how advanced, multimillion-dollar American drones have been transformed into “suicide drones” over the Strait of Hormuz.
In a sarcastic post on his X account, IRGC Brigadier General Hossein Mohebbi responded to Cooper’s podcast recording, referencing the repeated downing of expensive US unmanned aerial vehicles by Iranian forces.
“It would be better to put it this way: In this episode of the CENTCOM podcast, I will explain how we turned our own ultra-advanced, multimillion-dollar MQ-1 and MQ-9 drones into suicide drones!” Mohebbi advised Cooper.
The spokesperson’s remarks came amid a series of IRGC announcements regarding US drone losses over Iranian territory and the Strait of Hormuz. On Friday night, the IRGC said its advanced air defense systems had intercepted and destroyed the 16th US MQ-1 reconnaissance and combat drone over Qeshm Island, operating under the country’s integrated air defense network.
The IRGC also reported that its electronic warfare systems had brought down two additional US-made MQM-170 reconnaissance drones over Qeshm, raising the total number of such drones intercepted there to six.
In a separate announcement, the force said its air defense systems had destroyed a US MQ-9 drone over the eastern Strait of Hormuz marking the 55th American drone of that type brought down by Iranian air defenses.
The IRGC attributed the repeated interceptions to its intelligence superiority and continuous monitoring of US aerial movements and reconnaissance flight patterns.
Source: Iranian media (translated and edited by Al-Mnaar)