JNN 20 July 2011 TEHRAN – Iran has shot down a U.S. spy plane over the province of Qom, MP Ali Aqazadeh-Dafsari announced on Tuesday, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard shot down an unmanned U.S. spy plane that was trying to gather information on an underground uranium enrichment site, a state-owned news site said Wednesday.

Speaking to reporters, Aqazadeh-Dafsari said, “An unmanned U.S. spy plane that was flying over the province of Qom, near the Fordo nuclear facility, was brought down by the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps’ air defense units.”

The plane was flying at the behest of the CIA to gather information about and identify the location of the Fordo enrichment facility, added Aqazadeh-Dafsari, who is a member of the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee

The report did not say when the plane was shot down.

Iran is locked in a dispute with the U.S. and its allies over Tehran’s disputed nuclear program, which the West believes aims to develop nuclear weapons. Iran denies the accusations, saying its nuclear program is aimed at generating electricity and producing isotopes to treat medical patients.

Long kept secret, the Fordo site is built next to a military complex to protect it in case of attack. Iran only acknowledged Fordo’s existence after Western intelligence agencies identified it in September 2009. The facility is reportedly located 295 feet (90 meters) underneath a mountain.

Iran says it is planning to install advanced centrifuges at Fordo to speed up its nuclear activities.

U.S. nuclear experts say by increasing the enrichment level and its stock of nearly 20 percent low-enriched uranium, Iran could reach a “break out” capability that would allow it to make enough weapon-grade uranium for a nuclear weapon.

Iran has claimed to shoot down U.S. spy planes in the past. Earlier this month, Iranian military officials showed Russian experts several U.S. drones they said were shot down in recent years.

Fars also said Iranian military officials had claimed to have shot down “several enemy drones” in January.

“We have experienced similar incidents many times in the past and there have even been drones belonging to the occupying Zionist regime (Israel), the United States and Britain which have been shot down in the Persian Gulf during the past 7 years,” Fars quoted a senior military official as saying at the time.