In a press conference where the IRGC displayed what it claimed was wreckage from the U.S. drone it had shot down the day before, an IRGC commander stated that “along with the American drone was an American P8 aircraft with 35 on board, and it was also violating our airspace and we could have downed it too, but we did not, because our aim was to warn the terrorist forces of the U.S.”.