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Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps said in a statement that it targeted the drone - which it identified as an RQ-4 Global Hawk - inside Iranian airspace Thursday over the southern province of Hormozgan, next to the Strait of Hormuz.
A spokesman for the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet directed questions about the incident to the U.S. Central Command, which was not immediately available for comment. 
The Revolutionary Guard's chief commander, Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami, called the downing of the drone "a clear message to America."
A U.S. official confirmed the episode to the Associated Press and said the drone was targeted by an Iranian surface-to-air missile in international airspace over the Strait of Hormuz.
"Our borders are Iran's red line, and we will react strongly against any aggression," Salami said Thursday in remarks carried by Iranian state television.
"Iran is not seeking war with any country, but we are fully prepared to defend Iran," he said.
A U.S. official told the Reuters news agency that the drone was an MQ-4C Triton, which builds on the RQ-4's surveillance capabilities, according to a description by the Northrop Grumman Corp., which developed the aircraft.
Aircraft Spots, an open-source Twitter account monitoring military air movements, said that a U.S. Navy MQ-4C Triton2 drone departed the Patuxent River Naval Air Station in Maryland on June 15 for al-Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates.
Iran's Mashregh news agency, which is close to the Revolutionary Guard, reported that the drone was shot down by the Guards' Sevom Khordad missile defense system.
"We warn of the consequences of such illegal and provocative measures," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said, state TV reported.
Saudi Arabia said Thursday that Yemen's Houthi rebels, which are aligned with Iran, fired a rocket targeting a desalination plant in the kingdom overnight. The rocket caused no damage, the official Saudi Press Agency reported, quoting military spokesman Col. Turki al-Maliki.
The attacks come amid heightened tensions in the Persian Gulf region following assaults on Japanese and Norwegian tankers near the Strait of Hormuz. The Trump administration has blamed Iran for the attacks, at least one of which was carried out using a limpet mine similar to those previously displayed at Iranian military parades.
Iran has denied involvement.