Natanz Nuclear Site
Iranian soldiers stand guard with an anti-aircraft machine gun inside the Natanz uranium-enrichment facility. Reuters/Raheb Homavandi

Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard Corps said Sunday it downed an Israeli drone approaching a nuclear site. The Iranian army’s public-relations arm said a surface-to-air missile intercepted a “pilotless Israeli spy plane” over the Natanz nuclear facility in central Iran.

The Iranian military said in its statement the incident “once again made the adventurous nature of the Zionist regime more evident” and that Iran had a “right of reaction and retaliation.” Israeli military officials have not yet commented on the matter.

The Natanz uranium-enrichment plant holds more than 16,000 centrifuges, Al Jazeera reported. It is Iran’s main nuclear facility. The announcement Sunday comes as Iran continues negotiations with six world powers over the future of its nuclear program.

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