Encounters with Iran

The brief encounter this week between a U.S. Predator drone and Iranian fighter jet is the third known incident involving American spy drones and Iranian military forces in the last 15 months.

• In December 2011, a secret U.S. spy drone crashed inside Iran after what U.S. officials privately said was a malfunction. Iranian officials claimed they brought down the craft by jamming its guidance system. They later put out video footage of the captured aircraft, as well as aerial video they said they had taken from it.

• Last November, the Pentagon said an Iranian fighter fired multiple times at another Predator drone that U.S. officials said was over international waters but the slow-moving drone was not hit.