Iran 'has successfully flown copy of US stealth drone it captured' Tehran claims it reverse-engineered the RQ-170 Sentinel seized in 2011 General Amir Ali Hajizadeh quoted as saying test was carried out Monday The drone was captured after it entered Iranian airspace from Afghanistan Iran claims it is capable of launching own production line for the aircraft Iran has successfully tested its own version of a top-secret US drone it captured in 2011, state news reports claim. General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, head of the aerospace division of the elite Revolutionary Guard, was quoted as saying the test was carried out early Monday. 'As we promised earlier this year, a test flight of the Iranian version of the RQ-170 was carried out and a video will be released soon,' he told IRNA new agency. The newly made drone is pictured during an unveiling ceremony in Tehran on September 23, 2014 The country said it managed to reverse-engineer the RQ-170 Sentinel reconnaissance it seized in December 2011 after it entered Iranian airspace from neighboring Afghanistan. News reports claim that after extracting the valuable technology, Iran is now capable of launching its own production line for the unmanned aircraft to be used by their own defence industry. In a video posted by the semi-official Tasnim News Agency, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei voiced satisfaction at the news after seeing a replica of the drone, saying: 'Today is a very sweet and unforgettable day for me.' In May, Iran unveiled a copy of the RQ-170 drone, an aircraft manufactured by U.S. defence technology company Lockheed Martin. A member of Iran's revolutionary guard pointing at the U.S. RQ-170 unmanned spy plane as he speaks with Amirali Hajizadeh (right) in December 2011 The United States has said the security system meant Iran was unlikely to get valuable information from the drone. Iran says it has captured several American drones in recent years, including a Boeing-designed ScanEagle drone - a less sophisticated aircraft - after it entered Iranian airspace over the Persian Gulf. Tehran says it is also copying the ScanEagle and plans to put its version into service. Iran has accused the U.S. of using drones to spy on the country's nuclear program. The U.S. and other Western nations have long suspected Iran is secretly pursuing a nuclear weapons capability alongside its civilian program. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei voiced satisfaction at the news, after seeing a replica of the drone Tehran insists its nuclear program is entirely focused on peaceful applications like power generation and the production of medical isotopes. The two sides are currently struggling to reach an agreement under which Tehran would curb its nuclear activities in exchange for relief from crippling international sanctions. Iran began a self-sufficiency military program in 1992, under which it has produced everything from mortars and torpedoes to military tanks, jet fighters and light submarines.