Iran shoots at drone in central Tehran no-fly zone

Iran's military fired shots at a drone that 'encroached on the no-fly zone' in the capital Tehran on Monday.

1 min read

16 January, 2017

The area of central Tehran is subject to a no-fly zone by Iranian authorities [Getty]

Iran's military fired shots at a drone that "encroached on the no-fly zone" in the capital Tehran on Monday.

The area of central Tehran where government institutions are located, including the office of the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, is subject to a no-fly zone by Iranian authorities.

"Shots have been fired at a drone as it entered the no-fly zone in Tehran. Nothing to be worried about," Isa Farhadi, governor of Tehran province, was quoted as saying by Tansim news agency.

"We do not know yet who it belonged to," he added.

Video footage also emerged on social media platforms showing crowds in the streets watching the warning shots being fired.

Twitter Post

According to Alireza Elhami, a commander in Iran's air defence forces, the drone was a quadcopter that dispersed following the warning shots.

Quadcopters, which are widely available for sale to the public, are most commonly used for filming.

In December, a drone used by a film crew in the Iranian capital was shot down while filming footage for the country's state television service.