Iran's Arabic language television station on Saturday broadcast footage showing an American aircraft carrier cruising in Persian Gulf waters, which it said was taken by an unmanned Iranian drone.

The brief minute-long film, which was shown on Al-Alam television's evening news bulletin, had a wide reaction in the region and the West.

It showed aerial footage of an aircraft carrier stacked with war planes as it sailed.

The television's anchor said the film, the property of Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), showed a vessel from the American fleet in the Persian Gulf.

"A source in the IRGC said the drone carried out its mission without American fighter pilots reaching it," the television said.

It said there were 10 such films taken by the drone which showed more precise information and details about military equipment, foreign forces, and their activities in the Persian Gulf."

The broadcast comes near the end of Iran's latest 10-day war games, "The Noblest Messenger".