By Yeganeh Torbati and Parisa Hafezi

WASHINGTON/ANKARA, Jan 29 (Reuters) – An unarmed Iranian drone flew instantly over a U.S. plane service working in worldwide waters within the Gulf this month in a transfer that was “abnormal and unprofessional,” the U.S. army stated on Friday.

Iranian state tv stated a surveillance drone flew over a U.S. plane service within the Gulf and took “precise” photos throughout an Iranian naval drill on Friday.

But a U.S. Navy spokeswoman solely confirmed an incident on Jan. 12, when an unarmed Iranian drone flew instantly over the usS. Harry S. Truman. She couldn’t affirm if it was the identical incident reported by Iranian media.

The Jan. 12 overflight happened the identical day Iran detained 10 U.S. sailors who it stated had entered Iranian territorial waters by mistake.

The drone initially flew towards the French service the Charles de Gaulle, after which flew instantly over the usS. Harry S. Truman, stated the spokeswoman, Lieutenant Commander Nicole Schwegman, in an e-mailed assertion. The U.S. service was not conducting flight operations on the time, Schwegman stated.

“The UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) was unarmed and posed no risk to the carrier’s flight operations,” Schwegman stated. “While the Iranian UAV’s actions posed no danger to the ship, it was, however, abnormal and unprofessional.”

Both the American and French carriers had been working in worldwide waters within the Gulf, Schwegman stated.

The commander of Iran’s navy, Admiral Habibollah Sayyari, stated the drone overflight reported by Iranian media as occurring on Friday was an indication of the Iranian navy’s “readiness and bravery,” in accordance with state tv.

An Iranian submarine was additionally deployed to the world on Friday and took photos of the drone and the U.S. service, the semi-official Fars information company reported. (Reporting by Yeganeh Torbati and Parisa Hafezi; Editing by David Alexander and Andrew Hay)

(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2016.