TEHRAN, Sept. 11 — Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) said Thursday that its naval forces had targeted a U.S. unmanned surface vehicle (USV) in the Strait of Hormuz.
In a statement published on its official news outlet Sepah News, the IRGC said the Saildrone Explorer-type USV was on an “aggressive mission” and was struck at the strait’s entrance.
Saildrone Explorer USVs were previously used in the region by the U.S. Fifth Fleet and Task Force 59 headquartered in Bahrain, the IRGC said, adding that the U.S. naval base in Bahrain had been targeted in Iranian strikes and the USVs are now used by a unit based in Khasab in Oman.
The IRGC repeated that the Strait of Hormuz is closed and under its control, warning that “any hostile presence in the strategic waterway will be targeted.”
The IRGC Navy said Tuesday that its forces had captured one of the U.S. Army’s “most modern, smart” unmanned submarines, identified as a Dive-LD, at the entrance of the Strait of Hormuz.
The U.S. military later said one of its underwater drones “malfunctioned” during a survey of regional waters, without mentioning whether the device was seized by Iran. (Namibia Daily News / Xinhua)
