US drones briefly seized later released in Red Sea amid tensions.
Iran’s navy has released two American surface drones hours after seizing them in the Red Sea, accusing the unmanned vessels of jeopardizing maritime safety, Iranian state television reports, in the second such incident this week.
“The Iranian navy frigate Jamaran seized the two vessels on Thursday to prevent any possible accident after issuing warnings to the US fleet. After international shipping lanes were secured, the two vessels were released in a safe area,” state TV reported on Friday.
Footage appeared to show more than a dozen Iranian navy personnel pushing two drones into the sea from the deck of their vessel – the latest maritime incident involving the United States Navy’s new drone fleet in the Middle East as negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear deal with the world powers hang in the balance.
State TV said an Iranian naval flotilla found “several unmanned spying vessels abandoned in the international maritime routes” and “after warning an American destroyer twice, seized the two drone vessels to prevent possible accidents”.
Aired footage purporting to come from the deck of the Jamaran destroyer showed sailors examining what appeared to be two Saildrone Explorers.
They tossed one overboard as another warship could be seen in the distance.
“After securing the international shipping waterway, the Naval Squadron number 84 released the vessels in a safe area,” the state TV said.
Drone videography is not easy. The novelty was, at first, enough to make me complacent towards smooth scenes and good composition. But that is changing. I am now trying to mind the details. Here is a video I shot of our dinner-in-the-field event yesterday. #cdnag #drone pic.twitter.com/Q2R4TsfBcu
— Toban Dyck (@tobandyck) September 2, 2022
