US Official: Iran Tried to Seize Navy Drone Patrolling the Strait of Hormuz

A U.S. official said on Monday that Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps used boats in an attempt to capture a U.S. Navy unmanned vessel patrolling the Strait of Hormuz. According to Sina Finance, after the attempted seizure was identified, a U.S. drone fired two missiles at the boats and destroyed them, with most people on board killed. U.S. Central Command spokesman Colonel Tim Hawkins confirmed the failed seizure attempt, saying Iranian small boats had recently tried to take a U.S. unmanned surface vessel and that Central Command responded forcefully. Hawkins said the unmanned surface vessel remained under U.S. operational control. The incident came as the United States sought to protect rising commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. A U.S. official said tanker traffic through the strait had begun to be arranged for daytime passage with Gulf countries, rather than only at night as in recent months. Another U.S. official said Saudi Arabia had sharply increased the number of tankers passing through the strait as the conflict in the Red Sea and with the Houthis escalated. The U.S. military has also expanded the mine-clearing security zone along the strait's main shipping lane. On average, 40 ships now cross the strait each day under U.S. guidance and protection, and about 14 million barrels of oil are exported through the waterway daily. Over the past week, several tankers carrying liquefied natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas also passed through the strait.