Iran military says all its drones have returned safely to base

Iran's top military spokesman said all the country's drones had returned safely to base, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported, after President Donald Trump said a U.S. Navy ship had "destroyed" one.

"All drones belonging to Iran in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz ... returned safely to their bases after their mission of identification and control, and there is no report of any operational response by USS Boxer," Abolfazl Shekarchi, a senior armed forces spokesman, was quoted as saying by Tasnim.

Trump said on Thursday that the drone had flown to within 1,000 yards (914 metres) of the U.S. warship Boxer and had ignored "multiple calls to stand down" in the latest episode to stir tensions in the Gulf.