Iran announced that it had captured a US underwater drone in the waters of the strategic Strait of Hormuz, Agence France-Presse reported.
"Through a coordinated and complex operation, the naval forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) managed to capture a high-tech underwater drone belonging to the US military", said a statement carried by Iranian state television.
The "Remus 600" drone was "operating in the Strait of Hormuz for espionage purposes" and "is now in the hands of experts tasked with retrieving the data", the military structure added.
Earlier this month, the IRGC again announced that it had captured "one of the most advanced underwater drones of the US military" at the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz.
The Strait of Hormuz is an area of heightened tension between Tehran and Washington. Before the war, a fifth of the world's oil supplies passed through the strait. It is at the center of the conflict, which began in late February with US-Israeli strikes against Iran. Since then, the Islamic Republic has established control over the waterway, and Washington responded by blockaded Iranian ports.