U.S. destroys two Iranian boats after attempted seizure of Navy surface drone near Hormuz
NEW · Tue. ~10:45 a.m. EDT
U.S. officials told Axios that Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps small boats tried Monday to take a U.S. Navy unmanned surface vessel patrolling the Strait of Hormuz; an American drone then fired two missiles that destroyed both craft and killed most aboard. CENTCOM spokesperson Capt. Tim Hawkins said the seizure attempt failed after a “forceful” response and that the surface drone “remains under U.S. operational control.” Iranian state media and Hormozgan deputy governor Ahmad Nafisi described the targets as fishing boats struck near Larak Island and Bandar Kargan, with fishermen missing and search-and-rescue underway; U.S. forces had not initially publicized the strike.
USS Tempest (PC 2) transits the Strait of Hormuz in a U.S. Navy file photograph. Not from Monday’s reported boat strike near Larak Island.
U.S. Navy / Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Matthew Riggs (public domain)
Center-left view
Iran International’s Monday night write-through, Mehr News Agency’s Hormozgan brief, and Tasnim’s Tuesday follow-up foreground provincial official Ahmad Nafisi’s account that two fishing boats were hit by a U.S. drone about 12 miles from Larak Island and 30 miles from Kargan, with fishermen missing and rescue teams searching — casting the episode as another civilian-maritime casualty claim in contested Gulf waters before Washington’s seizure narrative circulated widely.
Sources: Iran International · Mehr News Agency · Tasnim News
Center-right view
Axios’s Tuesday scoop citing U.S. officials, Arab Times’ CENTCOM confirmation wrap, and Fox News Digital’s Tuesday Hormuz live desk frame the strike as a successful defense of a Navy unmanned surface vessel: Capt. Tim Hawkins said Iranian small boats tried to take possession of the USV, CENTCOM “forcefully responded,” the drone stayed under U.S. control, and the episode fits a week of IRGC pressure on commercial and unmanned traffic through the strait.
Sources: Axios · Arab Times · Fox News