Iran reportedly threatened to shoot down 2 U.S. Navy planes near the Persian Gulf

Iranian Navy ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
(Image credit: AFP/Getty Images)

On Saturday, Iran threatened to shoot down two U.S. Navy surveillance aircraft flying near Iranian territory, three U.S. defense officials told Fox News on Monday.

Officials say a P-8 Poseidon with a crew of nine and an EP-3 Eries with about two dozen crew members were flying a reconnaissance mission in the Strait of Hormuz and Gulf of Oman, 13 miles off the coast of Iran. Per international maritime law, Iran's territorial waters extend 12 miles into the sea, and at one point, the Iranian military warned the planes that if they didn't change course, they were at risk of being shot down. One official told Fox News the aircraft ignored the warning, remaining in international airspace but near Iranian territory, because "we wanted to test the Iranian reaction. It's one thing to tell someone to get off your lawn, but we weren't on their lawn. Anytime you threaten to shoot someone down, it's not considered professional." Intelligence reports show there were no Iranian missile launchers in the area during the confrontation.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.