Tehran’s navy plucked the two unmanned vessels from Red Sea waters in the second such incident this week.
The crew of an Iranian warship temporarily seized two US sea drones in international waters of the Red Sea. It was the second such incident this week involving Washington’s unmanned surface vessels in the region.
“The frigate ‘Jamaran’ seized the two vessels on Thursday to prevent any possible accident after issuing warnings to the US fleet,” Iranian state-run television reported on Friday. “After international shipping lanes were secured, these two vessels were released in a safe area.”
Video footage that was reportedly shot from the deck of the frigate appeared to show Iranian sailors tossing one of two Saildrone Explorers overboard. “The US Navy was warned to avoid repeating similar incidents in future,” the television report added.
An unidentified Pentagon official told NBC News and other media outlets that two American destroyers that were operating nearby confronted the Iranian ship over the radio and followed it until the drones were released on Friday morning, about four hours after they had been taken. He alleged that Iranian sailors initially tried to cover up the drones with tarps and deny that they had them.
According to the Iranian report, Tehran’s forces found “several unmanned spying vessels abandoned in the international maritime routes.” After two warnings to a nearby US destroyer went unheeded, two drones were seized “to prevent possible accidents.”
The latest incident comes after the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet issued a statement on Tuesday saying that an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) vessel was spotted towing an American Saildrone Explorer in the Persian Gulf. The IRGC disconnected its tow line and released the drone about four hours later, after being confronted by a US Navy patrol ship and helicopter.
Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of the Fifth Fleet, called the IRGC’s temporary seizure “unwarranted and inconsistent with the behavior of a professional maritime force.” He added, “US naval forces remain vigilant and will continue to fly, sail and operate anywhere international law allows while promoting rules-based international order throughout the region.”
The Fifth Fleet launched a new drone task force in the region last year amid rising tensions with Iran.
Image credit: Tasnim News Agency, CC BY 4.0
“US naval forces remain vigilant and will continue to fly, sail and operate anywhere international law allows while promoting rules-based international order throughout the region.”
But the Ultimate scum has not signed the law of seas!!! The so called rule-based order is nothing but US hegemony and they use this phrase to fool the public in the west.
Like Israel, they haven’t signed up to the International Criminal Court either. I wonder why that is… ????
Not the so called leaders of the free (read oppressed) world anymore are we? Great to see other nations not tolerating the US’s exceptionalism. Shame NZ does not follow suit.
We’re not allowed to be free and independent on the world stage, Five Eyes says so…
Hopefully, the US will wake up one day to the fact they are not the World’s policemen. And will learn other countries have lives of their own and a different way of seeing things, which is not all wicked and evil. Iran would leave them alone, if the Pentagon left them alone. And if Israel stopped sticking their oar in every five minutes.
Mind you, I do have a chuckle occasionally when I recall how well the Saudis played the Bush administration when they, though their proxy, brought down the twin towers. The Yanks didn’t have a clue but listened to Bandar bin Sultan who pointed the finger at Sadaam in Iraq. Unknown to the Americans, the Saudis wanted their major enemy removed, which the coalition of the easily led promptly did. The Saudis knew they could work with Iran, which they are now doing. When all is said and done, the Yanks are not that bright when it comes to the nuances of the Middle East…