Mahdi al-Muhandis. 2014 Israeli drone shoot down Iran revolutionary guards said that they had shot down an Israeli drone approaching the Natanz nuclear facility. According to ISNA, "The downed aircraft was of the stealth, radar-evasive type ... and was targeted by a ground-to-air missile before it managed to enter the area." The statement by revolutionary guards did not mention how they recognized it as an Israeli drone. Israel offered no comment. Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 Iranian authorities initially denied responsibility for the Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 incident. However, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) later admitted that the plane had been shot down by mistake. The Aerospace Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps took "full responsibility" for unintentionally shooting down Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 with a surface-to-air missile on 8 January 2020. President Hassan Rouhani stated that the plane was approaching an IRGC base when it was shot down: according to a senior Revolutionary Guards commander, the plane was mistaken for a cruise missile. On 17 January 2020, the IRGC, which shot down a Ukrainian passenger plane, were protected by Ali Khamenei in the Friday sermon. He said that the downing was a "bitter" tragedy and additionally declared that "Iran's enemies" used the crash and the military's admission to "weaken" the IRGC. Special Operation inside Pakistan On 3 February 2021, IRGC announced that it had conducted an intelligence-based operation inside Pakistani territory to rescue two of its border guards who were taken as hostages by Jaish ul-Adl organization two and a half years ago. Influence Political As an elite group, members of Pasdaran have influence in Iran's political world. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (President 2005-2013) joined the IRGC in 1985, serving first in military operation in Iraqi Kurdistan before leaving the front line to take charge of logistics. A majority of his first cabinet consisted of IRGC veterans. Nearly one third of the members elected to Iran's Majlis in 2004 are also "Pásdárán". Others have been appointed as ambassadors, mayors, provincial governors and senior bureaucrats. However, IRGC veteran status does not imply a single viewpoint. Strengthening the power of the IRGC was their actions against the Green Movement, where thousands of Iranians protested election irregularities in the 2009 victory of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad over "a well-liked" reformer Mir-Hossein Mousavi. As "the demonstrations gained strength, the security forces swept in, arresting, beating, and killing protesters". The IRGC was thought to