TEHRAN — The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) said on Tuesday it had captured an advanced U.S. unmanned underwater vehicle at the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz, the latest in a series of confrontations between Tehran and Washington in the strategic waterway.
The IRGC Navy described the captured vessel as a Dive-LD autonomous underwater vehicle, a modern unmanned submersible that entered service with the U.S. Navy in 2025. 
The system, manufactured by American defense company Anduril Industries, measures approximately 5.8 meters in length, weighs nearly three tonnes and is designed for extended autonomous missions in deep waters.
According to the IRGC statement, the capture was carried out at dawn through “a complex intelligence and operational action”. The force later released images of the captured submersible.
“The IRGC Navy captured one of the modern and smart unmanned submersibles of the American terrorist army at the entrance to 

the Strait of Hormuz,” the statement said.
The Dive-LD system can operate underwater for up to 10 days and reach depths of 6,000 meters, according to specifications published by the manufacturer. Its modular design, incorporating components produced using three-dimensional printing technology, enables rapid installation of various sensors and mission payloads.
Potential missions for the system include underwater reconnaissance and surveillance, seabed mapping, mine detection, inspection of submarine cables and pipelines, and support for anti-submarine warfare operations.
In a separate development, the Iranian Army’s air defense forces detected, tracked, and targeted a U.S. MQ-1 drone in southeastern Iran before striking and destroying it, according to an Army statement. 
The operation was carried out using “a new advanced air defense system” and conducted “under the control of the country’s integrated air defense network,” the statement added.
The simultaneous announcement of both the drone shoot-down and the underwater capture underscores the breadth of Iran’s military capabilities in the strategic waterway, demonstrating the country’s ability to engage U.S. assets both in the air and beneath the surface.
The capture and the downing came as IRGC Deputy Commander Major General Mostafa Izadi said Iranian armed forces remain “firmly and forcefully” in control of the Strait of Hormuz. Izadi said forces from the IRGC, the army and the Law Enforcement Force are fully deployed across the country’s southern islands and coastal areas.
Iran has restricted passage through the strait since the early days of the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran, which began on February 28 and was brought to a temporary halt by a ceasefire in early April following Iran’s retaliatory operations. 
Tehran has conditioned reopening the waterway on the complete lifting of what it calls an illegal U.S. naval and economic blockade.
Tuesday’s announcement follows a series of escalating confrontations between Iranian forces and the U.S. military in the region.
On Saturday, the IRGC Aerospace Force launched several ballistic missiles at a U.S. aircraft carrier and a destroyer participating in what Tehran describes as Washington’s illegal naval blockade. 
The IRGC said the vessels were forced to flee the area after sustaining damage. The U.S. Central Command acknowledged the attacks but claimed both warships evaded the missiles with no American personnel harmed.
The U.S. military subsequently struck three Iranian crude oil carriers, which CENTCOM said were permanently disabled or destroyed, drawing an IRGC retaliation in which six hostile ships, including three linked to the United States, were targeted. 
There was no immediate comment from Washington on the IRGC’s announcement to have captured the underwater drone, but social media were awash photos of the captured vehicle.
The capture could potentially provide Iran with access to an advanced American underwater system and reveal information about U.S. surveillance capabilities in the region.
On American user wrote on X, “What are the chances they reverse engineer it and build a fleet of their own.”
MenchOsint, an active user on X who focuses on geopolitical and military news especially regarding West Asia, responded, “I’d say 100%.”