In an apparent first, an Israeli Air Force drone was shot down over the Isfahan area in central Iran overnight, the Israeli military and Iranian media.
Footage broadcast by Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB on Wednesday morning showed what appeared to be a crashed Israeli Air Force Hermes 900.
“During operational activity, a surface-to-air missile was launched at an air force unmanned aerial vehicle,” the Israel Defense Forces said later, confirming the drone crashed in Iran.
The IDF said that “there is no fear of information leaking.”
The IAF has been operating over Iran, at a distance of more than 1,500 kilometers from Israel, since early Friday.
The military says it has air supremacy over western Iran and Tehran, and is working to extend it to other parts of the country, to thwart Iranian ballistic missile attacks on Israel.
More than 70 Iranian air defense batteries have been destroyed in strikes so far, according to the IDF.
“Achieving air superiority involves initiative and offensive actions, which come with costs that were accounted for in the plan. We are constantly engaged in the struggle to maintain air superiority,” the military said.
The IDF said the incident over Isfahan was being investigated further.
The military has denied previous Iranian claims of shooting down Israeli aircraft, which were not backed by any evidence.
Several Hermes drones were downed during the war with Iran’s proxy Hezbollah terror group.
Now in its sixth day, the Israeli operation in Iran was launched Friday with the objective of removing the “existential threat” of the Iranian nuclear program and ballistic missile capabilities.
Israel says its sweeping assault on Iran’s top military leaders, nuclear scientists, uranium enrichment sites, and ballistic missile program is necessary to prevent the Islamic Republic from realizing its avowed plan to destroy the Jewish state.
Iran has retaliated by launching more than 370 missiles and hundreds of drones at Israel. So far, 24 people have been killed in Israel and more than 500 wounded.
Israeli strikes on Iran have killed at least 224 people, according to Iranian officials.