An American official acknowledged early Thursday that Iran shot down a US drone, saying it was hit by a surface-to-air missile while flying in international airspace near the Strait of Hormuz.

The US official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, contradicts information from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, which had said earlier Thursday that it had downed the drone after it flew into Iranian airspace.

The drone — later identified by US officials as an MQ-4C Triton — is a high-altitude, unmanned aircraft with an integrated sensor suite to provide intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, according to Military.com.

The shoot-down of the drone comes amid increased tensions between Iran and the US.

The US military alleged last week that Iran fired a missile at another drone that responded to the attack on two oil tankers in the region.

The US blames Iran for the attack on the tankers.

With Post wires