Iran said Sunday it had documents to prove that a US drone had entered Iranian airspace and that the Islamic Republic will react strongly against any US intrusion into its airspace

Iran said Sunday it had documents to prove that a US drone had entered Iranian airspace and that the Islamic Republic will react strongly against any US intrusion into its airspace.

"Yes, we opened fire, and it was with warning shots. If they do it again they can expect an even stronger response," ISNA news agency quoted General Amir-Ali Hadjizadeh, head of the elite Revolutionary Guards air and space forces, as saying.

Pentagon spokesman George Little said on Thursday the Iranian Su-25 Frogfoot fighters fired at the robotic Predator drone on November 1. "They intercepted the aircraft and fired multiple rounds," he said.

The American drone was "never in Iranian airspace" and came under fire from the fighter jets off the Iranian coast over international waters, Little said.

Hadjizadeh was reported as saying on Sunday: "This spy drone entered Iranian airspace and had to turn around because of the immediate reaction by fighters of the Revolutionary Guards." He added that the US unmanned aircraft had been "flying over Kharg island to gather information about economic activity on the island, and the arrival and departure of oil tankers."

Responding to questions regarding whether the drone had been in international airspace as the US had claimed, or whether it had entered Iranian airspace, IRGC deputy commander Brig.-Gen. Hossein Salami said that the documents proved that Iran’s air force had not conducted any act of aggression against any aircraft in international airspace.

Iran was aware of international law regarding “incursions from alien aircraft,” Salami added.

“Certainly if the situation had been otherwise we would never have fired [at the drone],” Salami was quoted as saying by Mashregh News.