Iran says Guards seize US drone in Hormuz

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Sunday that they seized an American submarine drone in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, which Tehran has blockaded in the months-long Middle East war.

"Through a coordinated, complex operation involving intelligence oversight and electronic warfare, IRGC naval forces' personnel successfully captured an advanced unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) belonging to the terrorist US military," the IRGC naval forces said in a statement, according to state TV.

They added that the drone was "operating in the Strait of Hormuz for espionage purposes", identifying the model as a Remus 600 autonomous underwater vehicle that was "now in the hands of the force's specialists for data recovery".

US Central Command spokesperson Captain Tim Hawkins denied the claim, saying US maintained "positive control of all of our operational drone assets", describing the IRGC claim as "clearly desperate".

Earlier this month, the Guards said they captured another US submarine drone in the strait that was crucial for oil and gas trade before the Middle East war started in late February and choked off shipping. Iran has maintained a blockade of the Hormuz strait since the outbreak of the conflict, while the United States has imposed a counter-blockade of Iranian ports.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said he anticipated his envoys would take part in negotiations with Iran in the coming days, while adding that Tehran had yet to offer acceptable terms to resolve the ongoing conflict.

"I expect more talks with Iran (this week)," Trump told US news website Axios in an interview, adding: "They want to make a deal, but it is not the deal that I want to make. It is what we would have maybe agreed to a year ago. They overplayed their hand."

Asked whether Washington was considering resuming military strikes against Iran, Trump said the option remained active.

Iran said it remained firm on its conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, despite Trump rejecting the proposal, which had raised hopes of breaking the deadlock in the Middle East war.

The waterway is key to the world's energy supply and is now central to the conflict between Washington and Tehran, which was triggered nearly seven months ago with deadly strikes on Iran.

Iran's plan called for a cessation of all hostilities in the Middle East, including in Lebanon, according to Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, and fulfilling conditions in the ceasefire deal that fell apart months ago. AGENCIES