Iran concluded its three-day naval military drills in the Gulf near the strategic Strait of Hormuz waterway as Washington denied Tehran’s claims that a US aircraft flew close to the exercise area. Tehrans military said on September 11 that its air force detected three US aircraft after they entered Iran’s air defense identification zone. The US aircraft were identified as a P-8 airplane, an MQ-9 drone, and an RQ-4 drone. After "ignoring warnings by Irans defense systems to keep away from the drill zone" the aircraft were tracked by an Iranian drone before "they changed course and left the zone," Tehrans military added. Since last Thursday, Irans annual Zolfaghar 99 exercises were conducted in more than 1.2 million square kilometers of sea stretching from the northern part of the Indian Ocean to the eastern end of the Strait of Hormuz. The maneuvers were concluded on Saturday. During the second day of the maneuvers, the Iranian Navy deployed domestically manufactured military equipment, including a submarine and a cruise missile. Tensions between Iran and the United States have soared since President Donald Trump withdrew from a landmark nuclear agreement with Tehran in 2018 and unilaterally reimposed crippling economic sanctions.