Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said its naval forces have captured an unmanned United States submarine near the Strait of Hormuz, as Tehran and Washington continue to exchange tit-for-tat attacks on ships to exert control over the crucial waterway that connects the Gulf and the Arabian Sea.
asserted
that → say → Gulf
Iranian state media identified the vessel as a Dive-LD – an autonomous underwater vehicle built by California-based defence firm Anduril Industries.
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media → identify → firm
The submersible, about six metres (20ft) long, is designed for long-duration missions such as surveillance, seabed mapping, and mine detection.
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submersible → design → surveillance
Washington insists that the vessel “had malfunctioned a day ago”.
asserted
vessel → insist → ?
The US military, meanwhile, on Tuesday evening said it destroyed five Iranian crude oil carriers in response to Iran’s attack on the US Navy warship with ballistic missiles.
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it → say → missiles
Escalating the situation further, Iran said it attacked two US vessels and eight oil tankers.
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it → escalate → vessels
So, what do we know about Dive-LD and what does its capture mean for Iran?
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capture → know → Iran
Did Iran capture the submersible?
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Iran → capture → submersible
On Tuesday evening, the IRGC said in a statement that its naval forces have “trapped one of the most modern, intelligent, unmanned submarines of the terrorist US army at the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz”.
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forces → say → Hormuz
Without divulging specific details, the IRGC added it was a “complex intelligence and operational mastermind operation at dawn today”.
“This smart submersible features the latest technology in the submersible field in the world, and was delivered to the US terrorist army fleet in 2025,” the IRGC said in its statement.
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IRGC → divulge → statement
The US has yet to issue an official statement on the incident, but an unnamed Pentagon spokesperson confirmed to the Reuters news agency the loss of the submersible, which he said was sent to survey 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.
So, what is Dive-LD?
Dive-LD is a large, unmanned, autonomous underwater vehicle and a reusable platform designed to carry different sensor and mission packages.
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LD → have → packages
Anduril Industries, the submersible’s manufacturer, put its maximum depth at 6,000 metres (19,700ft) and endurance at up to 10 days.
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Industries → put → days
It reportedly costs nearly $2.5m, according to US media reports.
uncertain
It → cost → reports
To put things in perspective, the OceanGate Titan submersible imploded near the Titanic’s wreck in June 2023 at a depth of some 3,346 metres (11,000ft) – nearly half of Dive-LD’s advertised depth.
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submersible → put → depth
Anduril has confirmed the loss of one of its vessels but downplayed the significance of the incident.
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Anduril → confirm → 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 on Wednesday.
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spokesperson → mean → Wednesday
On its website, Anduril says that Dive-LD possesses “open software, mechanical, and electrical interfaces [allowing] for seamless integration and rapid configuration of multiple payloads and sensors at a time”.
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LD → say → time
The company says it can deliver “relevant, impactful, and affordable capability in weeks, not months or years, for missions to include: mine warfare; intelligence preparation of the operational environment; intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance; and precision placement”.
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missions → say → environment
Has the Iran war drained US military power?
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war → drain → power
Since the US attacked Iran in late February, joined by Israel, Tehran has faced devastating attacks over the months that began with the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
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that → attack → Khamenei
His son Mojtaba Khamenei succeeded him.
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son → succeed → him
However, Tehran’s retaliatory attacks on US bases and assets in the region have dealt a strong blow to Washington, coupled with hits on critical energy infrastructure, upending global energy prices.
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attacks → deal → prices
At least 18 US soldiers have been killed during the conflict.
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soldiers → kill → conflict
Nearly 8,000 people have been killed in Iran and Lebanon in Israeli and US attacks.
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people → kill → attacks
The Iranian targets included bases like Al Udeid in Qatar, Ali Al Salem in Kuwait, and Al Dhafra in the UAE, which host US military forces.
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which → include → forces
Bahrain, which hosts the US Fifth Fleet headquarters, has also been hammered by Iranian attacks.
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which → host → attacks
Officials in Washington believe that repairs here alone could run into billions.
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repairs → believe → billions
The US has also reportedly been running short on munitions stockpiles.
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US → run → stockpiles
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly rejected the media reports.
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Trump → reject → reports
His administration has subjected senior US defence staff to polygraph tests for leaking information about the munitions to the media.
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administration → subject → media
For context, the US fired more Patriot missiles in the first four days of the Iran war than it supplied to Ukraine over the past four years.
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it → fire → years
Each of those missiles in the defence system costs $4m – and they were shooting down Iran’s Shahed drones worth not more than $50,000 each.
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they → cost → drones
In July, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the Iran war is estimated to have cost some $37bn.
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war → say → 37bn
He asked for twice that amount to continue the war, which Trump initially said would last four to five weeks.
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Trump → ask → war
In June, Trump had said that Iran downed a US Apache helicopter in the Strait of Hormuz, while Tehran has claimed to have shot down several US-operated drones near the waterway.
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Tehran → say → waterway
Iranian infrastructure near the Strait of Hormuz has become the central war theatre over the last few weeks.
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infrastructure → become → weeks
The US is targeting surveillance and naval assets to deter Tehran from attacking ships trying to evade its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of global oil and gas passed before the war began.
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war → target → oil
Meanwhile, a US naval blockade on Iranian ports and a slew of economic sanctions continue to hurt Tehran’s economy.
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blockade → continue → economy
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