US confirms underwater drone malfunction, Iran claims seizure
Shafaq News- Tehran
The US military confirmed on Tuesday that one of its unmanned underwater vehicles malfunctioned in the Middle East more than a day ago, after Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it had seized an American submersible near the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz.
A US official told Reuters that the vehicle was an older model and carried no classified sonar equipment.
A US Central Command (CENTCOM) spokesperson separately told Al Jazeera that the unmanned vehicle malfunctioned during a water-survey mission in the region about a day earlier.
Neither US official confirmed that Iran had captured the vehicle or disclosed where it malfunctioned.
The IRGC Navy said earlier on Tuesday that it had seized an American unmanned underwater vehicle at dawn following what it described as an intelligence and operational mission near the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz.
Tehran described the craft as one of the most advanced underwater systems in US service and said it had joined the American military fleet in 2025.
Iranian media said such vehicles can be used for underwater reconnaissance, seabed mapping, mine detection and inspections of submarine cables and pipelines.
