U.S.' downing of the Iranian drone came on the same day when Australia announced it is temporarily suspending airstrikes by its forces in Syria after a threat from Russian Federation.
The U.S. military's Central Command said the drone shot down Tuesday was a Shaheed 129 and appeared to have been operated by "pro-regime" forces, a term which U.S. officials previously have used to describe Hezbollah elements.
The U.S. F-15 shot the drone down after it was intercepted and failed to change course, according to OIR.
The drone was approaching a small military base at the Syrian town of Tanf that U.S., British and Norwegian special operations forces use as a staging ground to train and equip rebel groups fighting the Syrian government and Islamic State militants.
In a recent statement, the US military arrogated to itself the right to control the strategic area, placing multiple rocket launcher systems at the base and warning that it would not "tolerate any hostile intent and action of pro-regime forces", a stance raising concerns of further aggression from USA forces unlawfully stationed in the Arab country.
It added that a June 8 incident occurred in the same area where another armed pro-regime drone dropped ammunition near Coalition forces before it was shot down.
That took place near the Syrian city of Taqba, which has been the focus of fighting as USA -sponsored ground forces advance Raqqa.
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A top USA general said the country would work to relaunch the "deconfliction" hotline established in 2015, after Russian Federation said Washington had failed to use the line - a vital incident-prevention tool - before targeting the plane near Raqa.
Meanwhile, US General Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said a day earlier that Washington was working to restore a "deconfliction" line with Moscow meant to avoid mid-air collisions over Syria. According to Washington sources, the jet had bombed USA -backed forces.
Australia said it would temporarily halt air operations over Syria after the plane was downed. The coalition shot down Iranian-made Shahed-129, belonging to the Syrian #Air Force, near the At-Tanf area, the channel said.
Both the United States and Russian Federation contend their forces are in Syria to fight ISIS.
The U.S. military says it shot down an Iranian-made, armed drone in southern Syria.
The US-led coalition has been conducting airstrikes against what are said to be the positions of Daesh terrorists inside Syria since September 2014 without any authorization from the Damascus government or a United Nations mandate. Russian Federation previously closed its end of the line for a period of time after the USA bombed the Syrian Shayrat airbase in April in retaliation for an alleged chemical weapons attack against Syrian civilians, including children, in the town of Khan Sheikhoun.
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