File image.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on September 9 said it seized a submarine drone from the United States military in the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
“The IRGC naval forces captured one of the most modern, unmanned, and smart submarines of the U.S. terrorist army at the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz in a complex intelligence and operational action at dawn today,” the Corps said in a statement carried by state TV.
“This smart submarine is equipped with the latest technology in the subsurface field in the world, which was delivered to the U.S. terrorist army fleet in 2025,” the statement added.
“This submarine has now been captured and images of it will be released in the coming hours,” it concluded.
Iranian media reported that the unmanned underwater vehicle’s main capabilities included “subsurface reconnaissance and surveillance, seabed mapping, mine detection and inspection of submarine cables and pipelines.”
The submarine was identified as the Dive-LD, a large-diameter autonomous undersea vehicle (LD-AUV) developed by Anduril. It measures approximately 5.8 meters in length and 1.2 meters in diameter, with a dry weight of about 2,720 kg. It offers a maximum endurance of around 10 days, a maximum operating depth of ~6,000 meters, a speed range of roughly 2–7 knots, and a survey range of about 313 nautical miles.
The design of the submarine features modular payload bays exceeding 1 cubic meter capacity, a 3D-printed exterior for rapid customization, direct-drive electric propulsion, and low-logistics portability.
The U.S. military confirmed that a submarine drone was lost near Iran, but in a statement to CNBC Navy Captain Tim Hawkins of the Central Command played down the incident claiming that the system was “defective” and carried no sensitive data or classified equipment.
Later in the day, Iran’s navy warned that oil tankers in Kuwaiti and Bahraini ports will be targeted in retaliatory attacks, urging their crews to evacuate immediately following reported U.S. strikes on Iranian tankers.
In a statement carried by the state-run IRIB news agency, the navy said the warning was issued in response to U.S. military attacks on several Iranian oil tankers. It called on all crews of oil tankers anchored in ports in Kuwait and Bahrain to leave their vessels immediately, warning that the tankers will be targets of attacks.
The statement accused the two Gulf countries of hosting U.S. forces and cooperating with them in the attacks on Iranian vessels.
The warning came after Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported earlier that a small Iranian oil tanker had been struck by a U.S. missile approximately four nautical miles from Kharg Island in the Gulf.
The semi-official news agency said the vessel was hit near the island’s anchorage area, with no casualties reported and its crew being evacuated.
IRIB separately reported that the U.S. military attacked a second Iranian oil tanker near the coast of Jask in the southern part of the Islamic Republic.
The U.S. strikes on the Iranian tankers were likely carried out in response to the seizure of the submarine drone and the downing of an “MQ-1” combat drone by the air defenses of Iran’s army, which was reported earlier in the day by the semi-official Fars news agency.
Both sides could exchange strikes in the coming hours. However, a return to a full-on war remains unlikely. Overall, the Islamic Republic has succeeded in dragging the U.S. into a prolonged low-intensity conflict, one that could outlive the administration of President Donald Trump.
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good story. another american wonder weapon?