The Iranian nuclear issue is unresolved, and confrontation between the United States and Iran in the Middle East has become the norm. According to US media reports, the two sides have had friction in the Arab sea a few days ago. According to reports, on August 30, local time, an unmanned ship belonging to the US Navy's Fifth Fleet was on a routine mission in the Arabian Sea, and after the Iranian Navy found out, it sent a tugboat to try to capture it. The U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet reacted at the first moment and stopped the Iranian Navy's action.
According to the report, the US Navy's Fifth Fleet sent the patrol boat "Raiden" on duty in nearby waters, and also mobilized an MH-60S "Seahawk" multi-purpose helicopter stationed in Bahrain to participate in the "rescue" operation. Under the pressure of the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet, the Iranian Navy tugboat immediately untied the leash with the unmanned ship. The U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet and the Iranian Navy held a stalemate in the area for about four hours, with the Iranian Navy taking the lead in evacuating.
According to U.S. media reports, the unmanned ship targeted by the Iranian Navy, developed by the U.S. unmanned system manufacturer California Unmanned Navigation Company, has a small tonnage, uses wind and solar energy as power, can sail at sea for a long time, and is mainly used to collect various marine data. Last December, the vessel was deployed by the U.S. Navy on duty in the Gulf of Aqaba in the northern Red Sea region. Military experts said the U.S. Navy's move is on the one hand to verify the performance of unmanned ships, on the other hand, to collect maritime intelligence.
However, after the incident, the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet insisted that although the unmanned ship integrated various sensors and detection equipment, it did not collect sensitive information. Moreover, the seas in which it carries out its mission belong to the high seas and do not threaten Iran's national security. The U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet claimed in a statement that the incident was entirely provoked by the Iranian Navy, which attempted to seize the U.S. Navy's maritime assets.
The Iranian Navy responded that the unmanned ship towed away by the US Navy was to ensure the safety of the sea route in the sea and to ensure that Iran's national security was not threatened. An iranian navy official said in an interview with the media that the unmanned ships of the US Navy sail in the Arab seas, completely out of control, which has brought great security risks to ships passing by here, and in recent times, there have been a number of maritime safety accidents caused by unmanned ships of the US Navy.
Regarding the claims of the United States and Iran, military experts said that the US Navy was mostly lying. At present, the relationship between the United States and Iran is tense, and the US Navy cannot deploy unmanned ships in the waters around Iran for no reason, which must have a clear military purpose. The U.S. Navy's shift of primary responsibility for the incident to the Iranian Navy is a cover-up for the embarrassment of the failure of the unmanned ship operation.