Iranian Navy seized 2 US Navy maritime drones on Thursday
Iranian Navy seized 2 US Navy maritime drones on Thursday
By Barbara Starr, Mostafa Salem and Oren Liebermann, CNN
Updated 4:44 PM ET, Fri September 2, 2022
(CNN)The Iranian Navy seized two US Navy maritime drones in international waters in the Red Sea on Thursday.
The drones were eventually released, but a US defense official says the incident looks like an escalation of Iranian hostile actions against the United States.
Earlier this week, a similar incident occurred in the Persian Gulf. “The fact that this happened two days after their unsuccessful attempt in the Arabian (Persian) Gulf looks to be an escalation,” the official said
The incident began Thursday, the official said, when the Iranian Navy ship was observed taking two US drones out of the water “in an attempt to steal them,” according to the official. The US then quickly moved in with two nearby destroyers, the USS Nitze and USS Delbert D. Black, as well as two helicopters and communicated by radio to demand the drones be returned.
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