Iran’s IRGC claims seizure of advanced US underwater drone in Strait of Hormuz

The Naval Forces of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced that they captured an advanced, unmanned U.S. underwater vehicle at the entrance to the strategic Strait of Hormuz during an early morning intelligence and operational sweep, state television reported. 

Iranian military authorities said visual records of the captured submersible would be publicized shortly, noting that the apparatus was designed for high-precision missions including seabed mapping, environmental surveillance, submarine cable and pipeline inspections, and naval mine detection. The Strait of Hormuz, historically facilitating roughly a fifth of global petroleum transit, has remained under direct Iranian operational control since hostilities erupted in late February, prompting a counter-blockade of Iranian ports by the United States. 

Tehran continues to mandate explicit authorization for merchant shipping traversing the waterway, rejecting calls to reinstate the pre-war open navigation regime. Iranian authorities have also sought to levy maritime passage and servicing tolls across the corridor—a unilateral measure firmly contested and rejected by Washington and regional partners.