Iran claims it captured US drone Iran's Revolutionary Guard captured a US drone after it entered Iranian airspace over the Gulf, state TV said on Tuesday. The report quoted the guard's navy chief, General Ali Fadavi, saying the forces caught the "intruding" drone, which had apparently taken off from a US aircraft carrier. Gen Fadavi said the unmanned Scan Eagle aircraft was now in Iran's possession. "The US drone, which was conducting a reconnaissance flight and gathering data over the Persian Gulf in the past few days, was captured by the guard's navy air defence unit as soon as it entered Iranian airspace," he said. Such drones usually take off from large warships. He did not provide any more details nor did he say when the incident happened. There was no immediate comment from the US Navy's fifth fleet, based in Bahrain. If true, the seizure of the drone would be the third reported incident involving Iran and US drones in the past two years. Last month, Iran claimed a US drone had violated its airspace. The Pentagon said the unmanned Predator aircraft came under fire - at least twice but was not hit - and that it was over international waters. That November 1 shooting in the Gulf was unprecedented and escalated tensions between the US and Iran, which is under international sanctions over its suspect nuclear program. Tehran denies it is pursuing a nuclear weapon and insists its program is for peaceful purposes only. In 2011, Iran claimed it brought down a Central Intelligence Agency spy drone after it entered Iranian airspace from the country's eastern borders with Afghanistan and Pakistan. The RQ-170 Sentinel drone, which is equipped with stealth technology, was captured almost intact. Tehran later said it recovered data from the top-secret drone. In the case of the Sentinel, after initially saying only that a drone had been lost near the Afghan-Iran border, American officials eventually confirmed the aircraft was monitoring Iran's military and nuclear facilities. Washington asked for it back but Iran refused, and instead released photos of Iranian officials studying the aircraft. The US and its allies believe Iran is pursuing a nuclear weapon. Iran denies the charge, saying its nuclear activities are for peaceful purposes only, such as power generation and cancer treatment.