Iran might have hit Turkish soldiers, Pentagon says

A drone that killed four Turkish soldiers last week in Syria might belong to Iran, the Pentagon has said.

There are four actors who might have conducted the deadly attack, a senior U.S. official told Hürriyet following a report in which a senior Turkish official said an Iranian-made drone was used in the attack in northern Syria.

"These are the coalition, Russia, the Assad regime and Iran-backed Shia militias," said the U.S. official. 

"It is not the coalition. 'We didn't,' Russia said. There is no reason for them to conduct such an attack, and also there is no indication contradicting what they say. So the only two left are the regime and the militias. Iran has the capability. We know that they have armed UAVs. And there are Shia militias around Rasm al-Abboud where this UAV took off from. So it might be Iran," the official said.

Turkey identified the drone as Iranian-made, but it has still not identified whether Hezbollah, the Quds Force or another Shiite militia group in Syria had used it, Hürriyet Daily Newsreporter Sevil Erkuş quoted the Turkish official as saying on Dec. 7. 

The drone killed four Turkish soldiers on Nov. 24.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, accompanied by National Intelligence Agency (MİT) Chief Hakan Fidan, paid a surprise visit to Tehran early on Nov. 26, where the Turkish delegation discussed "issues regarding ISIL and counter-terrorism" with Iran and also raised the issue that their findings on the attack on Turkish soldiers in Syria indicated that an Iranian-made unmanned drone was used, the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the Hürriyet Daily News. 

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