TEHRAN — An Iranian naval flotilla briefly
seized two
US military unmanned research vessels in the Red Sea before
releasing them, Iranian state media reported on Friday.
اضافة اعلان
The Iranian navy’s “Jamaran destroyer encountered
several American military unmanned research vessels on the international
shipping route on Thursday while carrying out a counter-terrorism mission in
the Red Sea,” state TV said.
It added that the flotilla, “after warning an
American destroyer twice, seized the two drone vessels to prevent possible
accidents”.
“After securing the passage of international
shipping, the flotilla released the two vessels in a safe area,” the state
broadcaster continued, airing footage purporting to show the two US vessels
being released by Iranian forces on board a ship.
The US Navy said its vessels were taking photos of
the surrounding environment and had been in the vicinity of the southern Red
Sea for more than 200 days.
“At around 2pm (local time) on September 1, US 5th
Fleet detected the Iranian ship approaching both unmanned vessels and removing
them from the water,” the US Navy said in a statement.
Two destroyers operating nearby, the USS Nitze and
USS Delbert D. Black, “remained on scene communicating with the Iranian warship
to deescalate the situation,” the statement added.
The
US Navy vessels were released at around 8am the
following day, according to the statement.
In a separate, earlier incident, the Pentagon on Tuesday
said that an Iranian ship seized a US military drone vessel in the Gulf but
released it after a US Navy patrol boat and helicopter were deployed to the
location.
The US Central Command’s 5th Fleet said a support
ship from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy, the Shahid Baziar, was
spotted towing the 7m Saildrone Explorer unmanned surface vessel (USV) late
Monday.
US forces then sent the USS Thunderbolt coastal
patrol ship and an MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter.
That “resulted in the IRGCN vessel disconnecting the
towing line to the USV and departing the area approximately four hours later”
without further incident, the 5th Fleet said.
Separately on Thursday, Iran’s Navy said the same
flotilla had foiled a pirate attack on an Iranian merchant vessel in the area.
“A suspicious boat with 12 armed people on board
approached the Iranian merchant ship in Bab Al-Mandab” strait on Thursday, the
state news agency IRNA said, citing a statement by the navy.
It said a squadron had come into confrontation with “pirates
in the Red Sea”, adding that the invading boat “left the area” after the escort
flotilla, “headed by the Jamaran destroyer ... opened fire”.
On August 10, a senior Iranian navy commander said
the same flotilla had thwarted an overnight attack on another vessel belonging
to the Islamic republic.
Rear Admiral Mustafa Tajeddini said at the time
that, following a help request by an Iranian ship in the Red Sea, the flotilla
was dispatched to the scene and engaged fire with the attacking boats.
“After heavy exchanges, the attacking boats made
off,” he added.
Like other countries dependent on the shipping lane
through the Red Sea and
Suez Canal, Iran stepped up its naval presence in the
Gulf of Aden after a wave of attacks by Somalia-based pirates between 2000 and
2011.
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