I am not sure what they would do, that would be significant to the US. Anyway Iran does it to the US as well even capturing a drone year ago and recently shortly captured a sea-borne drone. And what Israel does to Iranian forces in Syria is worse.
Perhaps links to the women's protests is the deal.
Iran vows to strike back if US destroys more of its drones over Iraq
The chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces, Mohammed Bagheri, vowed Friday to respond to any “hostile actions” targeting Iranian drones, Iranian news outlets reported.
The threats followed Wednesday’s shooting down of an Iranian drone that was reportedly heading toward the capital of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, Erbil. Earlier this week, Iran unleashed a wave of missile and drone attacks against Iranian Kurdish opposition forces based inside the Kurdish region, killing at least 14 people, including a pregnant woman and a US citizen. It was among the deadliest spate of such attacks in recent years.
The attacks came amid mass protests across Iran triggered by the Sept. 16 death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. The Iranian Kurd perished after being severely beaten by Iran’s dreaded morality police. Iran’s clerical regime has sought to paint the tragedy as part of a foreign plot designed to destabilize the Islamic Republic, with the Kurds serving as willing pawns.
In a televised interview, Iran’s hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi said the United States was behind the unrest. “We should not allow the enemy to weaken our national unity,” he said.
The demonstrations are into their third week with no signs of abating as Iranian women continue to rip off their headscarves and protesters spray anti-government graffiti on walls across the capital, Tehran. Dozens of people, mostly protesters, have died in clashes with security forces and thousands have been arrested in a spiraling crackdown.
“If the Americans take action against Iranian drones, the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran will respond to this hostile action, and we reserve the right to confront and take revenge,” Bagheri warned, adding, “If a hostile action against Iran [or] its national security interests takes place from American bases in neighboring countries, we will definitely respond to those bases.”
As of the time of publication of this article, the State Department had not responded to Al-Monitor's request for comment.
Many analysts contend that the hawkish rumbles emanating from Tehran are linked to the government's attempts to deflect attention from the protests, which have united Iranians across class, religious and ethnic divides for the first time.