The IRGC Navy said in a statement on Thursday that the US military has deployed unmanned vessels to the Strait of Hormuz in recent days, noting that the move came out of fear of approaching and confronting the Iranian forces.

The IRGC Navy said its forces struck one of the enemy’s unmanned vessels, bearing hull number 5838 and of the ‘Saildrone’ type, at the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz, and foiled its aggressive mission.

“The IRGC Navy firmly declares: The Strait of Hormuz is blocked and under our intelligent control and intelligence dominance, and any hostile presence in this strategic strait will be targeted,” the statement warned.

According to information obtained by Tasnim, the Saildrone Explorer is an approximately 7-meter-long USV with long endurance that is equipped with cameras, communication systems and various sensors for reconnaissance, surveillance and maritime domain awareness (MDA) missions.

The vessel had previously been deployed in the region by the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet and Task Force 59, a unit based in Bahrain that was tasked with developing the US Navy’s network of unmanned vessels and artificial intelligence.

The US naval base in Bahrain was targeted in Iranian retaliatory attacks during the US-Israeli war of aggression and put out of service. The Saildrone is now being used by a unit based along the Khasab axis in Oman.