Iran denied Trump's assertion that a US warship shot down one of its drones, and said it's 'worried' the US actually destroyed its own aircraft

REUTERS/U.S. Navy/Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Craig Z. Rodarte/Handout via Reuters

The amphibious assault ship USS Boxer shot down an Iranian drone on Thursday, Donald Trump said.

• Iran says Donald Trump's claim the US shot down an Iranian drone is false, and joked they likely destroyed one of their own by mistake.
• On Thursday, Donald Trump said USS Boxer destroyed a fixed wing unmanned aerial system (UAS) which came within "threatening" range over the Strait of Hormuz.
• Seyed Abbas Araghchi, Iran's deputy foreign minister, derided the claim on Friday, tweeting: "I am worried that USS Boxer has shot down their own UAS by mistake!"
• The incident is the latest of several tense exchanges in the Persian Gulf, with US and UK forces involved in skirmishes since Iran said it was breaching limits on enriched uranium agreed under the 2015 nuclear deal.
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Iran laughed off Donald Trump's assertion the US shot down an Iranian drone on Thursday, saying they're "worried" the US actually torpedoed one of their own. 

"We have not lost any drone in the Strait of Hormuz nor anywhere else," Iran deputy foreign minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi tweeted early on Friday.

"I am worried that USS Boxer has shot down their own UAS by mistake!"

On Thursday, President Trump said USS Boxer destroyed an Iranian drone which had come within "threatening" range, of the amphibious assault ship, as it sailed through the Strait of Hormuz.

Google Maps/Business Insider

Map showing the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf where 18.5 million barrels of oil pass through every day.

"At approximately 10 a.m. local time, the amphibious ship USS Boxer was in international waters conducting a planned inbound transit of the Strait of Hormuz," Chief Pentagon Spokesperson Jonathan Hoffman told Business Insider's Ellen Ioanes.

Read more: Iranian gunboats backed away in a showdown with a Royal Navy frigate after staring down the barrel of the 'perfect weapon'

"A fixed wing unmanned aerial system (UAS) approached Boxer and closed within a threatening range. The ship took defensive action against the UAS to ensure the safety of the ship and its crew," he added.

The Pentagon did not immediately say how the drone was destroyed, but CNN cited a US defense official as saying the ship had used electronic jamming to down it. 

Michael Gruber/Getty Images; Olivier Douliery-Pool/Getty Images; Samantha Lee/Business Insider

Iranian president Hassan Rouhani and Donald Trump (R).

Tensions in the Persian Gulf have intensified since Iran said it would breach its limit on low-enriched uranium, disregarding promises it made under the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Read more: The UK is deploying another warship to the Persian Gulf as concern grows over a tanker that went missing near Iran

The US pulled out of the JCPOA in May 2018, and relations between the two states have become increasingly frosty since then. Tensions have heightened in recent weeks after a series of skirmishes at sea in the waters around Iran.

On June 13, Japanese and Norwegian oil tankers were attacked in the Gulf of Oman. Iran swiftly denied responsibility.

AP Photo/ISNA

An oil tanker on fire in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday, June 13, 2019.

A video released by the US military the next day purported to show Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps' boats taking an unexploded limpet mine from the hull of the Japanese tanker.

On June 20, Iran shot down a US Navy RQ-4 Global Hawk drone. Trump quickly called the clash "a mistake" to ease tensions in the Gulf. 

Tensions between Tehran and the West heightened further when the UK seized an Iranian ship sailing through the Strait of Gibraltar, claiming it was illegally transporting oil to Syria.

Iran then responded by ordering all "foreign powers" to leave the Strait of Hormuz, saying the West was playing a "dangerous game" 

The US has sent thousands of additional troops and fighter jets to the region amid the mounting tensions.