Iranian Navy seized 2 US Navy maritime drones on Thursday
The drones were eventually released, but a US defense official says the incident looks like an escalation of Iranian hostile actions against the United States. Earlier this week, Iran’s state TV said the Iranian Navy seized the drones while carrying out an anti-terrorism mission in the Red Sea. “The destroyer Jamaran seized two vessels on Thursday to prevent any possible accident … the two vessels were released after international shipping lanes were secured and a warning was issued to the US fleet,” state TV said.The incidents come at a sensitive time with negotiations over a revived nuclear agreement appearing to falter. On Thursday, the US State Department said Tehran’s latest reply to a European Union proposal to resurrect the deal was “not constructive.”The US official noted that unprofessional interactions with the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy are rare. When other unprofessional incidents have occurred, they have typically involved Iranian Revolutionary Guard naval ships (IRGC), not the regular Iranian Navy.IRGC ships and small boats have had multiple unprofessional interactions with the US Navy in recent years.Earlier this week, the US Navy prevented an Iranian ship from capturing an American maritime drone in the Persian Gulf in what a senior US commander called a “flagrant” and “unwarranted” incident. While US forces in the region were transiting international waters Monday, they saw an Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy support ship, Shahid Baziar, towing a US-operated maritime drone, also known as a Saildrone Explorer unmanned surface vessel.A US Navy patrol coastal ship, USS Thunderbolt, was “operating nearby and immediately responded,” the Navy said. After the Iranians attached a line to the maritime drone, US forces in the area communicated directly with the Iranians to say they wanted the drone back, and the Iranians eventually disconnected the tow line.The US is increasingly using commercially available drones that it leases to carry out maritime surveillance. The official said because it involves commercial technology, there is currently no concern Iran has gained access to classified technology.
