Explosions reported on Qeshm Island and off Bandar Lengeh after IRGC says it downed US drones

Explosions were heard on Iran's southern Qeshm Island on Monday night, the Tehran-based Fars News agency reported. The agency later reported that sounds of an explosion were also heard in the waters off Bandar Lengeh in southern Iran.

The reports followed a statement by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force that it had downed two American MQM-170 drones using electronic warfare near Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz. The IRGC did not provide further details in the account carried by the news agency.

Qeshm Island, located in the Strait of Hormuz, hosts the Qeshm Free Trade Zone and sits near one of the world's most sensitive maritime corridors. Bandar Lengeh is a port city on Iran's southern coast in Hormozgan province.

The Mehr News report linked the developments to the wider context of a US attack on Iran's nuclear facilities, which has been the subject of ongoing coverage. No official Iranian statement on casualties or damage from the reported explosions was included in the account, and the cause of the blasts was not specified.

According to Mehr News, citing Fars News, the sound of explosions was heard on Qeshm Island on Monday night, with a later report of an explosion in the waters off Bandar Lengeh.