The drone
Officials: Downed US drone was on CIA mission
Top US officials confirmed to CNN that RQ-170 Sentinel drone that crashed in Iran was performing nuclear site surveillance
The American stealth drone that crashed in Iran two weeks ago was performing a CIA reconnaissance mission two top US officials told CNN.
According to the report, the RQ-170 Sentinel drone's mission involved both the intelligence community and military personnel stationed in Afghanistan.
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Iran boasted shooting down the drone, claiming it was recovered "virtually intact," and that Tehran planned to study and utilized its technology.
A senior US official – which CNN said has "direct access to the assessment about what happened to the drone" – told the news network that once the drone crashed, its location was quickly pinpointed by a US satellite.
The downed drone, he added, appeared to have sustained significant damage, the senior official said.
"The Iranians have a pile of rubble and are trying to figure what they have and what to do with it," the senior US official told CNN. The drone crashed solely because its guidance system failed, the official said.
US officials discounted the Iranian claim that the drown was shot the drone down.
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