Iran says it targeted US unmanned vessel in Strait of Hormuz
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Tehran: Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has claimed that its naval forces struck a US unmanned surface vessel near the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz.
According to a statement carried by the IRGC’s official outlet, Sepah News, the vessel was a Saildrone Explorer-type drone allegedly operating on an “aggressive mission” in the strategic waterway.
The IRGC said similar drones had earlier been deployed in the region by the US Fifth Fleet and Task Force 59, both of which are headquartered in Bahrain. It claimed the unmanned vessels are now operated by a US unit based in Khasab, Oman, following Iranian attacks on the US naval base in Bahrain, Xinhua news agency reported.
The Iranian military again asserted that the Strait of Hormuz was closed and under its control, warning that it would target any hostile forces operating in the area.
The claim came days after the IRGC Navy announced that it had seized a US Dive-LD unmanned submarine near the strait’s entrance. Iran described the vessel as one of the US Army’s most advanced autonomous underwater systems.
The US military acknowledged that one of its underwater drones had malfunctioned while conducting a survey in regional waters, but did not confirm whether the device had been taken by Iranian forces.
Iran has also threatened to penalise vessels entering a restricted maritime zone that Tehran plans to establish in the region without prior coordination. IRGC spokesman Hossein Mohebbi said such vessels could be barred from using the Strait of Hormuz in the future and denied access to Iranian port, insurance and other services, Tasnim news agency reported.
Mohebbi said the zone’s precise coordinates would be announced later. He indicated that it would cover waters near Chabahar in southeastern Iran, parts of the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea, as well as shipping routes leading towards the Strait of Hormuz.
Calling the waterway the “strait of Iran’s power”, Mohebbi said Tehran would use its control over the area to respond to what it described as hostile actions.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry separately condemned a US attack on several Iranian oil tankers, which it said took place on Tuesday night.
(Inputs from IANS)