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Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei gave one of his personal rings to the soldier who shot down a US drone on June 20, Iran’s official Fars News Agency reported.

In an interview with local news channel Ofogh TV, he said that Iran is “proud that [its] weapons have shown their effectiveness and brought down this drone.”

"The US-made Global Hawk surveillance drone was brought down by [Iran's] Air Force" in the country's southern coastal province of Hormozgan, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards had said on June 20, according to Press TV.

Read more: Trump threatens Tehran, as US drone is shot down by Iran

Tensions between the US and Iran have been high since last May, when US President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the nuclear deal that had been signed by Iran and other world powers.

This culminated in the shooting down of the American drone that the US said was flying over international waters. Iran claimed the drone had violated Iranian airspace.

The event was the only direct confrontation between Iran and the United States in recent months, but preceded a series of alarming incidents, including attacks on oil tankers off the coast of the United Arab Emirates.

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif made a surprise visit at the recent G7 Summit in France as French President Emmanuel Macron attempted to bring the United States and Iran to the negotiation table.