Iran claimed that it had begun exploiting a US drone equipped with the latest radar evading technology on Monday as officials warned that the downed machine could be shared with America's rivals.
Parviz Sorouri, an MP on parliament's foreign policy committee, said that Iranian experts were in the final stages of recovering the data from the surveillance drone, which was captured on Iranian territory last week.
Tehran has paraded the loss of the drone as a blow to the US and claimed it plans to reproduce the technology. It said its security forces had shot the drone down using previously secret air defence systems.
The drone, which is made from the latest 'stealth' technology, has been presented as a valuable windfall for its defence scientists.
"Our next action will be to reverse-engineer the aircraft," Mr Sorouri said. "In the near future, we will be able to mass produce it. Iranian engineers will soon build an aircraft superior to the American (drone) using reverse engineering."
Other Iranian officials have hinted that it could allow American rivals such as China the opportunity to acquire the technology. American officials used diplomatic pressure to recover similar technology on helicopter that crashed in Pakistan during the raid to kill Osama bin Laden, the al-Qaeda leader. |