US destroys two Iranian boats after bid to seize drone near Hormuz

Washington,UPDATED: Sep 15, 2026 22:36 IST

The US military said on Tuesday that it destroyed two small Iranian boats after they tried to take control of a US drone vessel in waters off Iran. Iranian state media, however, reported a day earlier that two fishing boats were attacked off Iran's southern coast and that several fishermen were missing.

The incident is the latest exchange in a war that has lasted for more than six months, as both sides seek control of the Strait of Hormuz. The conflict has pushed up oil and petrol prices and created political problems for President Donald Trump and his Republican Party.

Capt Tim Hawkins, a spokesman for the US Central Command, said, "Iranian small boats recently attempted to take possession of a US unmanned surface vessel, but they were unsuccessful after CENTCOM forcefully responded".

Iranian state media reported on Monday that a pair of fishing boats came under attack in Hormozgan province on Iran's southern coast. Citing a provincial official, it said several fishermen were reported missing.

Hawkins said the drone involved was a Saildrone, a small craft of about 25 feet, or 8 metres, that can operate on its own. US Central Command has used such vessels in the region for several years to monitor maritime traffic. He added that all of the command's surface drones "remain fully accounted for". The US military has long maintained that the technology on the Saildrones is commercially available and not sensitive in nature.

The latest drone incident, first reported by Axios, came a week after Iranian state television said the country's navy had seized one of the US military's underwater drones at the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz. Hawkins had then said that an Anduril Dive-LD drone had malfunctioned while surveying waters in the region and that the US military no longer had it. He said the drone was defective and described it as an "older model that neither collected sensitive data no carried any classified sonar or radar equipment". Overall, the latest incident has added to a series of confrontations in and around the Strait of Hormuz as the conflict continues.

With PTI Inputs

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