U.S.officials considered conducting a covert mission inside Iran to retrieve or destroy a stealth drone that crashed late last week, but ultimately concluded such a secret operation wasn't worth the risk of provoking a more explosive clash with Tehran, a U.S. official said.
Tehransaid it shot down the unmanned craft.
But the U.S. official said the drone developed mechanical difficulties and remote pilots lost control of the aircraft, and said officials knew immediately it had crashed in eastern Iran.
Initially, officials in Washington didn't believe Iran had detected the drone crash.
The stealth drone was developed for the Air Force, but was flying under the authority of the Central Intelligence Agency when its remote pilots lost control of it late last week, said several U.S. officials.
The officials considered various options for retrieving the wreckage of the RQ-170 drone.
Under one plan, a team would be sent to retrieve the aircraft. U.S. officials considered both sending in a team of American commandos based in Afghanistan as well as using allied agents inside Iran to hunt down the downed aircraft.
Another option would have had a team sneak in to blow up the remaining pieces of the drone. A third option would have been to destroy the wreckage with an airstrike.
However, the officials worried that any option for retrieving or destroying the drone would have risked discovery by Iran.
"No one warmed up to the option of recovering it or destroying it because of the potential it could become a larger incident," the U.S. official said.
If an assault team entered the country to recover or destroy the drone, the official said, the U.S. "could be accused of an act of war" by the Iranian government.
Some officials argued in private meetings that because the drone crashed in a remote part of eastern Iran, it might never be discovered, and therefore, leaving the remains where they were could be the safest option.
But on Sunday, an Iranian military official quoted by the state news service claimed Tehran had shot down a U.S. stealth drone—alerting U.S. officials that the downed drone had been discovered.
U.S.officials denied that the drone had brought down by Iran, either through hacking its satellite link or by shooting it down.
Intelligence and military officials declined to comment on the specific mission the drone was flying when it crashed.
George Little, the Pentagon press secretary, declined to comment on the discussions over options to recover the drone.
The military frequently hands over parts of its fleet of drone aircraft to the CIA. Flying under CIA authority allows the U.S. to conduct operations covertly and if discovered deny the existence of the intelligence mission.
Officials said they were concerned about the remains of the craft falling into Iranian hands, but don't believe the aircraft's technology can be reverse engineered with ease.
The drone is a wing-shaped aircraft, like the stealth bomber, a design that is supposed to make it less visible to radar.
Iranian officials said the craft sustained minor damage.
Among U.S. officials, views vary on the likely extent of damage and the severity of any potential security breach.
Analyzing the materials that contribute to the craft's stealth qualities, for example, wouldn't tell Iranian scientists how to manufacture the necessary coatings.
After Iran claimed to have shot down the drone, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's military command in Afghanistan issued a statement that said late last week the U.S. had lost control of one of its drones.
Iran's assertion that it had shot down the drone wasn't the first such claim it has made.
In January, Tehran said its forces shot down drones in the Gulf. In July, it said it shot down a drone near the city of Qom.
U.S.officials rebutted those claims, and Tehran produced no evidence.
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