Iran Revolutionary Guards warhip Shahid Bazair (L) tows the US Navy’s Saildrone Explorer in the Persian Gulf, August 30, 2022


UPDATE, SEPT 3:

Iran briefly seized two more US sea drones in the Red Sea on Thursday night.

An American official said the Saildrone Explorers were returned with their cameras missing, noting that the Iranians initially tried to cover the drones with tarps and deny that they held them.

It is unclear if the Iranians stole the cameras or if they fell off when the drones were taken out of the water the water.

The US Navy despatched the guided-missile destroyers USS Nitze and USS Delbert D. Black in response to the seizure at 2 p.m. Thursday, with each warship deploying MH-60 SeaHawk helicopters. Iran released the drones at 8 a.m. Friday.

The US 5th Fleet said:

The unmanned surface vessels were unarmed and taking unclassified photos of the surrounding environment while loitering in an assigned patrol area at least 4 nautical miles from the nearest maritime traffic lane.

The vessels posed no risk to naval traffic and had been operating in the general vicinity of the Southern Red Sea for more than 200 consecutive days without incident.

Iranian officials issued their standard pretext that Tehran’s navy found “several unmanned spying vessels abandoned in the international maritime routes”. They proclaimed, “After securing the international shipping waterway, the Naval Squadron No. 84 released the vessels in a safe area.”


ORIGINAL ENTRY, AUG 31: Iran’s Revolutionary Guards briefly seized a US sea drone in the Persian Gulf and tried to tow it away on Tuesday.

The Guards only releasing the unmanned vessel when a US Navy warship and helicopter approached, according to American officials.

While Iranian planes and speedboats have “buzzed” US warships for years in the Gulf, this is the first time that the 5th Fleet’s new drone task force has been targeted.

See also Iran Military Speedboats “Buzz” US Warships in Persian Gulf

Cmdr. Timothy Hawkins, a 5th Fleet spokesman, said the Guards’ Shahid Baziar warship attached a line to the Saildrone Explorer in international waters late Monday night. The iranians began towing the Explorer, which carries cameras, radars, and sensors for remotely monitoring the sea.

The USS Thunderbolt, a Navy coastal patrol boat, and an MH-60 Seahawk helicopter shadowed the Shahid Baziar. Naval officers called the Guards ship by radio to identify the drone vessel as American.

“Our response was one that as such made clear that this was US government property and was operating in international waters and that we had every intention to take action if necessary,” said Cmdr. Hawkins.

Four hours later, the Iranians unhooked the tow line and left the area.

The 5th Fleet’s unmanned Task Force 59 was launched last year. It covers the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which 20% of all oil passes, and stretches to the Red Sea near the Suez Canal and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait off Yemen.

The website linked to Iran’s Supreme National Security Council belatedly said the sea drone was seized because its “navigational system had failed”. It offered no evidence for the assertion.

Tehran has used the pretext of “supporting safe and secure shipping in the Persian Gulf” to justify the seizures of commercial ships.