Iran claimed that it had reverse-engineered a U.S. spy drone captured by its armed forces last year, and that it had been building a copy, the Daily Telegraph reported. It cited as proof details of the aircraft's history, which, it said, included a surveillance mission over the home of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan just two weeks before he was killed.
The U.S. dismissed the claim as "bluster", but it would be an embarrassment for the US military and intelligence community if Iran was able to produce a replica. The drones have been used for monitoring and assassinating suspected terrorists in Pakistan and for intelligence-gathering in Iran, mainly of its nuclear sites.