Senior MP: Iran not to return US spy drone

A senior Iranian legislator underlined that the US stealth drone that was downed by Iranian armed forces earlier this month is now an Iranian asset and the country will never send it back to Washington. "The spy drone will no way be returned," Seyed Nasser Moussavi told FNA, stressing that the hunt of the stealth drone was a show of power to the US to break Washington's intelligence awe. "As it was common in the past and it still is the spoils of war will not be sent back," he added. The remarks by the Iranian MP came after US President Barack Obama called on the Iranian government to send back the US spy drone. "We have asked for it back. We'll see how the Iranians respond," Obama said. After Obama's remarks Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehman-Parast lambasted Obama's demand, and said, "It seems that he (Obama) has forgotten that Iran's air space has been violated, espionage operations have been carried out, international laws have been violated and Iran's internal affairs have been interfered." "The US should know that such measures can endanger the international peace and security and it should accept its responsibility and its consequences," he added. Obama's comments were the first official confirmation that the United States had asked for the return of the RQ-70 drone that was downed by Iran over two weeks ago. During the last two weeks, Pentagon and State Department officials have repeatedly claimed that they were unaware of any efforts by the American government to contact Iran to have the drone returned to the US. Analysts believe that Iran's control over the aircraft was very costly to US since Iran can achieve the technology used in the device and develop a more advanced simulated model of it The RQ-170 has special coatings and a batwing shape designed to help it penetrate other nations' air defenses undetected. The existence of the aircraft, which is made by Lockheed Martin, has been known since 2009, when a model was photographed at the main US airfield in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Among the United States' main concerns is that Iran could use an intact aircraft to examine the vulnerabilities in stealth technology and take countermeasures with its air defense systems. Another is that China or other US adversaries could help Iran extract data from the drone that would reveal its flight history, surveillance targets and other capabilities. The drone was programmed to destroy such data in the event of a malfunction, but it failed to do so. The blow has been so heavy that the US officials do not still want to accept that Iran brought down the plane by a cyber attack. Instead, explanations have focused on potential technical failures. The aircraft cover great distances and depend on satellite links. A lost connection or other malfunction could cause them to turn back home or start automatic explosion.