Iran says its navy seized two American sea drones in the Red Sea before letting them go, the latest maritime incident involving the U.S. Navy’s new drone fleet in the Mideast
It was not clear why Iran had detained the two US sea drons in an attempt to make a copy of them
An Iranian warship seized and temporarily held two U.S. Navy sea drones in the Red Sea, according to an American military official, the second time this week an Iranian vessel has intercepted a U.S. water-based drone.
At about 2 p.m. Thursday local time, the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy (IRIN) warship in the Red Sea, far from Iranian territorial waters, picked two U.S. Saildrones out of the water. The United States says the incident occurred in international waters.
Iranian state television aired footage it said came from the deck of the Iranian navy’s Jamaran destroyer, where lifejacket-wearing sailors examined two Saildrone Explorers. They tossed one overboard as another warship could be seen in the distance.
Iran has no coastline along the Red Sea, a crucial international waterway lying between the Arabian Peninsula and northeastern Africa. but my be its attempt to Military Friction in the Red Sea.
According to Iranian state television, the IRIN said that while “establishing the security and safety of shipping in the Red Sea and combating piracy and maritime terrorism, the Jamaran destroyer encountered several small data collection vessels that were abandoned on the international shipping route and took action in order to prevent the occurrence of an accident.”
The incident, which followed an earlier incident in the Gulf, is the latest reminder of the military tension between the United States and Iran
The U.S. official said that after the Iranians loaded the drones onto their ship, the U.S. responded by sending two destroyers that were already in the area to the scene.
The U.S. used bridge-to-bridge communication and the Iranians responded, eventually agreeing to release the drones. They released the drones at 8 a.m. Friday, according to U.S. Naval Forces Central Command.
It was not clear why Iran had detained the two US sea drons in an attempt to make a copy of them,Some Iranian drones rely on drones from other countries, and Tehran has tried to copy a US reconnaissance drone it seized in 2011.
The 5th Fleet launched its unmanned Task Force 59 last year. Drones used by the Navy include ultra-endurance aerial surveillance drones, surface ships like the Sea Hawk and the Sea Hunter and smaller underwater drones that resemble torpedoes.
The 5th Fleet’s area of responsibility includes the crucial Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which 20% of all oil passes. It also stretches as far as the Red Sea reaches near the Suez Canal, the waterway in Egypt leading to the Mediterranean, and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait off Yemen.
Sources : International Agencies
