US-Israel-Iran War Latest Live News: The battle between Iran and the United States has moved deeper into the waters of the Strait of Hormuz, where Tehran says its forces captured an American unmanned underwater vehicle during a pre-dawn operation. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) released footage of the vessel and identified it as the Dive-LD, an autonomous underwater system developed by US defence technology company Anduril.
The claim emerged as military tensions between Washington and Tehran intensified across the region. The United States said it had destroyed five Iranian oil tankers after Iran targeted a US Navy warship with ballistic missiles, while Tehran responded with attacks on American-linked targets in Jordan and against vessels near the Strait of Hormuz.
However, Washington offered a sharply different account of the underwater drone incident. US officials said the vehicle had malfunctioned more than a day before Iran announced its capture and was an older model that did not carry sensitive or classified equipment.
US-Israel-Iran War Latest Live News: Iran Says It Captured US Dive-LD Drone Near Strait of Hormuz
The IRGC said its naval forces detected and seized the unmanned underwater vehicle at the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz during a “complex intelligence and operational operation” at dawn.
The Guards described the system as one of the most modern unmanned submarines operated by the US military and said it contained advanced underwater technology.
“The IRGC naval forces captured one of the most modern, unmanned and smart submarines of the US terrorist army at the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz in a complex intelligence and operational action at dawn today,” the Guards said in a statement.
Footage released by Iranian media shows what the IRGC claims is an American Dive-LD unmanned submarine captured today. Iran says the vessel is now in its possession. pic.twitter.com/POWlEHHnd5
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) September 8, 2026
Iranian state media also released video footage showing the underwater vehicle after the reported seizure. Independent reporting has not established all details surrounding how Iranian forces obtained control of the vessel. Reuters said it could not independently verify Iran’s claim.
US-Israel-Iran War Latest Live News: What is the Anduril Dive-LD?
The vessel identified by Iran is the Dive-LD, an autonomous underwater vehicle developed by Anduril Industries.
The roughly 19-foot, or 5.8-metre, underwater drone is built for missions that can include seabed mapping, mine countermeasures, intelligence collection and inspection of underwater infrastructure such as cables and pipelines.
Anduril says the Dive-LD can operate autonomously for up to 10 days and reach depths of about 6,000 metres, or 19,700 feet. The system is designed to perform missions without putting a crew inside the vehicle.
The reported loss also highlights how the US military is increasingly using autonomous systems to monitor large maritime areas and conduct surveillance without putting sailors directly in danger.
US-Israel-Iran War Latest Live News: US Gives a Different Account of What Happened
The Pentagon did not confirm Iran’s description of the incident as a military seizure.
Instead, a US defence official said the underwater drone had suffered a malfunction more than a day before Iran announced that it had captured the vessel.
“It was surveying regional waters in support of ongoing operations. The defective drone was an older model that neither collected sensitive data nor carried any classified sonar or radar equipment,” the spokesperson said.
DefenseScoop reported that US Central Command described the vehicle as essentially “dead in the water” for more than a day before Iran displayed it.
That explanation significantly changes the picture presented by Tehran. Rather than describing the incident as Iran defeating and taking control of an active US military platform, Washington has characterised it as the loss of a malfunctioning autonomous vehicle.
US-Israel-Iran War Latest Live News: Anduril Confirms Loss of One of Its Vessels
Anduril also acknowledged that one of its underwater vessels had been lost but played down the strategic significance of the incident.
“Dive-LD is an attritable autonomous system, meaning it is designed from the outset to operate in dangerous environments where loss of the vehicle is an expected possibility,” a company spokesperson said.
The term “attritable” refers to systems that militaries can deploy in high-risk environments where losing the vehicle is considered an acceptable possibility compared with risking human personnel or using more expensive platforms.
US-Israel-Iran War Latest Live News: Iran Escalates Attacks Around Hormuz
The underwater drone episode was only one part of a much wider escalation.
Iran’s IRGC said its forces attacked American vessels and other ships attempting to move through what Tehran described as a restricted area of the Strait of Hormuz.
Recent reporting indicates that the Iranian operation involved attacks against two US vessels, eight oil tankers and 10 other ships that Tehran accused of attempting to pass through a prohibited zone with US support.
The developments came shortly after the US military announced strikes against five Iranian crude oil carriers.
US-Israel-Iran War Latest Live News: US Destroys Five Iranian Oil Tankers
US Central Command said American forces destroyed five Iranian crude oil carriers on September 8 after the IRGC targeted a US Navy warship with ballistic missiles.
“US Central Command (CENTCOM) forces destroyed five Iranian crude oil carriers, Sept. 8, after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targeted a US Navy warship with ballistic missiles twice over the past two days. The US warship successfully evaded the attempted Iranian attacks and continued to patrol regional waters. No American personnel were harmed,” CENTCOM said in a statement.
The US military said four of the vessels — the M/T Kaviz, M/T Charminar, M/T Horizon 1 and M/T Riesco — were destroyed in the Gulf of Oman. It said the fifth, the M/T Derya, was hit near Kharg Island.
The strikes marked another major escalation in the fight over Iran’s maritime activity and oil exports.
US-Israel-Iran War Latest Live News: Iran Fires Ballistic Missiles at US Targets in Jordan
Tehran also launched a fresh ballistic missile attack toward US-linked military targets in Jordan.
Jordanian authorities said their air-defence systems detected 20 incoming ballistic missiles and intercepted 18 of them. The remaining two fell in unpopulated areas, according to the Jordanian military. No casualties were reported.
Iran claimed its missile operation caused heavy damage, but US and Jordanian accounts disputed the effectiveness of the attack. Reuters reported that a US official said the strikes were ineffective and that American personnel were accounted for.
US-Israel-Iran War Latest Live News: Iran’s Message Adds to the Escalation
The Iranian Embassy in Ghana also reacted to the developments with a post on X, linking the underwater drone incident to the missile strikes on US positions in Jordan.
“Washington already had an eventful evening explaining that drone sub we captured. Now 30+ missiles just hit US bases in Jordan. Please remain seated. This turbulence was just the preview.”
The post came as both sides continued to trade military strikes across the region.
US-Israel-Iran War Latest Live News: What Happens to the Captured US Drone Now?
The biggest unanswered question is what Iran can learn from the Dive-LD if it retains physical possession of the vehicle.
Although US officials say the drone was an older, malfunctioning platform without classified sonar or radar equipment, the vehicle itself is part of a broader US push toward autonomous underwater warfare and surveillance.
Iran’s possession of the system could nevertheless provide an opportunity to examine its hardware, sensors, communications architecture and autonomous operating technology.
At the same time, the US description of the vehicle as an older and defective model suggests Washington does not consider the loss comparable to the capture of an active crewed submarine or a high-value intelligence platform.
US-Israel-Iran War Latest Live News: A New Front in the Iran-US Conflict
The Dive-LD episode shows how the Iran-US conflict is increasingly extending beyond conventional aircraft, missiles and warships.
Autonomous underwater vehicles can operate for long periods, map the seabed, monitor infrastructure and gather information without placing human crews directly in danger. Their growing use could make strategic waterways such as the Strait of Hormuz even more difficult to monitor and control.
For now, the two sides remain far apart on what happened to the American drone. Iran calls it a successful intelligence and military capture, while the US says a malfunctioning older vehicle was lost before Tehran recovered it.
With the US destroying Iranian oil tankers and Iran responding with attacks on US-linked targets and vessels, the incident adds another dangerous layer to an already widening confrontation around the Strait of Hormuz.
