US destroys Iranian boats after Hormuz drone-seizure attempt

The U.S. military destroyed two Iranian small boats in the Strait of Hormuz after Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps tried to seize a U.S. Navy unmanned surface vessel, according to U.S. officials and a Central Command confirmation reported Tuesday. CENTCOM spokesperson Capt. Tim Hawkins said Iranian small boats “attempted to take possession of a U.S. unmanned surface vessel, but they were unsuccessful after CENTCOM forcefully responded,” and that the surface drone remains under U.S. operational control. U.S. officials told Axios an American drone fired two missiles that destroyed the boats and killed most of those aboard. Iranian media described the vessels as fishing boats struck near Kargan and Larak Island in Hormozgan province and said fishermen were missing; a provincial deputy governor attributed the strike to the United States. The clash came as Oman said two sailors were missing and 23 others rescued after the Panama-flagged tanker El Gaia was attacked north of Musandam and towed with an engine-room fire. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards claimed the tanker hit mines on a “restricted” route; the U.S. military said that account was false and that the ship was hit by an Iranian missile last month and again by a drone over the weekend. The International Maritime Organization says at least 22 seafarers have been killed in 79 confirmed Middle East incidents since the U.S.-Israel war with Iran began in late February. Roughly a fifth of global oil and gas shipments usually pass through Hormuz, which has been effectively shut by Iranian attacks and a U.S. blockade of Iranian ports. Source: BBC / Axios / Anadolu Agency Does another kinetic clash over unmanned systems make a Hormuz reopening deal even harder? https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3n07ydqdzlvo