Iranian company to send US model of downed drone

TEHRAN - The Associated Press

REUTERS photo

State radio says an Iranian company is sending the United States a model of the American surveillance drone captured by the Islamic Republic.

Tuesday's report said the company will send the miniature of the RQ-170 Sentinel stealth drone to the Obama administration in response to a formal request from Washington last month asking Tehran to return the aircraft that went down over Iran in December.

State radio said the model will be one eightieth the size of the original aircraft.

The report says the company also plans to sell the models on the Iranian market for about 70,000 rials, or around $4. 

The Iranian government has rejected Washington's request to return the drone, calling the aircraft's incursion of Iranian airspace an "invasion" and a "hostile act."