Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has announced it has begun retaliatory operations against American forces, with the first reported success being the downing of a US MQ-9 drone using a newly developed air defense system.

According to Iranian state media late Monday evening local time, an American MQ-9 surveillance drone was shot down over the city of Khomein, located in Iran's Markazi province approximately 70 kilometers from the strategic city of Arak. The IRGC subsequently issued a statement confirming the downing had occurred in their opening counterattack.

The IRGC statement said that hours before the drone was struck, American bombers had targeted multiple locations along Iran's southern coast, including civilian areas. The statement asserted that these American strikes have strengthened Iran's resolve to enforce its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and intensified the Iranian military's determination to confront foreign forces interfering in the vital waterway.

In the first phase of the counterattack, Iran's new defensive system successfully intercepted and destroyed the advanced American MQ-9 drone. The Revolutionary Guard has indicated it will release further details about the results of this military operation in the coming hours.

Earlier on Monday evening, multiple explosions were reported in the vicinity of Qeshm Island and the Strait of Hormuz in southern Iran. No immediate reports of casualties or damage to facilities have been confirmed so far.

The US Central Command confirmed that American forces began striking IRGC targets inside Iran at 12:00 PM Eastern Time on September 1. In response, Iran's Armed Forces General Staff issued its own statement, warning that the Iranian armed forces will deliver a devastating blow to the American enemy in retaliation for the US airstrikes on targets in Iran's Sistan-Baluchestan and Hormozgan provinces.

This escalation follows an earlier US military action on August 30, when CENTCOM announced it had conducted what it described as "limited, precision" strikes against IRGC mine-laying units. The US accused those units of posing a threat to navigation safety in the Strait of Hormuz. During that operation, American forces targeted two rocket launcher sites on Iran's Larak Island near the strait, claiming IRGC personnel were preparing to use those launchers to deploy mines in the waterway.

In response to that initial attack on Larak Island, Iran's Foreign Ministry and military announced on August 31 that its armed forces had struck American targets in Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, and had also downed an American MQ-9 drone at that time. US President Donald Trump responded on August 31 by vowing to retaliate against Iran for the attack on the US base in Jordan.