The US military denied claims that Iran had captured an American autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday evening.
Speaking to Qatari state-run media outlet, Al Jazeera, the US Army spokesperson said that it maintains "positive control" of all its UAVs, adding that the Iranian claim of having captured an advanced submarine in the Strait of Hormuz was "clearly desperate."
"The Strait of Hormuz is not only open, but a hunting ground for the IRGC Navy targeting American submarines," Spokesperson for the IRGC, Brigadier General Hossein Mohebbi said in a statement on X/Twitter.
He added that this was the IRGC's "second catch", claiming that the captured US submarine is "the Mk 18 Mod 2 Kingfish; an advanced, autonomous AUV equipped with sonar and precise navigation, worth several million dollars."
"It's not just a hunt; it's an intelligence windfall."
Previous Iranian claim of captured US drone
Earlier this month the IRGC published a similar claim of having captured a US unmanned submarine in the Strait of Hormuz.
Iranian media claimed the vessel was a Dive-LD, a large autonomous underwater vehicle built by California defense firm Anduril.
"We trapped one of the most modern, intelligent, and unmanned submarines of the terrorist American army at the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz. This submersible is equipped with the latest technologies," the IRGC Navy said in a statement.
In response, a Pentagon spokesperson said an underwater drone had "malfunctioned more than a day ago."
"It was surveying regional waters in support of ongoing operations. The defective drone was an older model that neither collected sensitive data nor carried any classified sonar or radar equipment," the spokesperson said.
The Pentagon did not address Iranian claims in its statement.
Reuters contributed to this report.