A newly minted and massive Iranian drone carrier was captured in new satellite images sailing in the Persian Gulf this week — the ship’s first reported sighting since leaving its home port for the first time in mid-November.
The satellite images taken Thursday by commercial operator Maxar Technologies shows three Iranian drone ships in the waters off the country’s coast as theories have swirled in the US that Iran could be behind the mysterious drone sightings across the tri-state area, according to Business Insider.
The Middle Eastern country’s new carrier — the Shahid Bagheri — is a converted shipping container that was outfitted to support drone operations and was last seen on Nov. 12, when it was captured by satellite imagery sitting in Bandar Abbas, the report said.
The Shahid Bagheri left its home Iranian home port sometime between Nov. 12 and Nov. 28, revealed by satellite imagery that shows an empty dock where the ship once sat, according to another Business Insider report.
The new carrier was believed to have headed straight to the Persian Gulf to partake in naval exercises, the report said.
The new images from this week show the overhauled ship was pictured with two other Iranian drone vessels — Shahid Roudaki and Shahid Mahdavi — off the Bandar Abbas port in the Persian Gulf, according to NDTV.
News of the Shahid Bagheri’s whereabouts came days after speculation that an Iranian drone “mothership” was parked out in the Atlantic and was carrying out clandestine drone operations in the airspace of New Jersey and Staten Island.
Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ) claimed to Fox News on Wednesday morning that the drones were possibly being launched by Iran, citing confidential sources.
“I’m gong to tell you the real dal. Iran launched a mothership that contains these drones,” Van Drew said. “It’s off the East Coast of the United States of America. They’ve launched drones.”
The Pentagon quickly poured cold water on those claims — saying there was “no evidence” that the country was responsible for the mysterious drones that have reportedly been seen across the state of New Jersey since Nov. 18.
However, no explanation has been provided to state and local officials who have been receiving thousands of reports from concerned New Jerseyans.
On Thursday, White House national security council spokesperson John Kirby said no federal agency has been able to corroborate any of the reports made of drone activity — saying all crafts reviewed by feds have been flying in accordance with the law.
Kirby backtracked on those comments in an interview on Fox’s “The Story” on Friday.
“I said many of the corroborated sightings have turned out to be piloted aircraft, I didn’t say all of them. I said those were the ones we were able to corroborate,” Kirby said.
“There’s certainly the ones that we have not been able to [corroborate] and don’t know the answers to it,” he added
