The Iranian Revolutionary Guard forces announced on Sunday that they had seized an American submarine drone in the Strait of Hormuz, which Tehran says it has imposed a blockade on since the outbreak of war in the Middle East.
The Revolutionary Guards' naval forces said, in a statement reported by official media, that its members were able to seize an unmanned American underwater vehicle during a "complex and coordinated operation" that included intelligence surveillance and electronic warfare.
The statement added that the drone was “operating in the Strait of Hormuz for espionage purposes,” and identified its model as the Remus 600, indicating that it had become in the possession of specialists affiliated with the Revolutionary Guard to recover the data contained in it.
Earlier this month, the Revolutionary Guard also announced the seizure of another US submarine in the strait, which is a major corridor for global oil and gas trade.
Iran says it has imposed a blockade on the Strait of Hormuz since the conflict broke out in late February, while the United States has imposed a counter-blockade on Iranian ports.
Iranian military officials said on Sunday that their country was ready for a new military confrontation, the day after Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi announced that Iran was waiting for an American response to a proposal to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
The Iranian army spokesman, Brigadier General Mohammad Akrami Nia, said that the United States may launch a new attack on Iran due to what he described as the worsening regional situation, adding that his country is ready for confrontation and to cause greater damage to Washington, according to what Reuters reported from Iranian official media.
The Commander-in-Chief of the Iranian Army, Major General Amir Hatami, said that “insecurity in the region will affect everyone,” adding that if Iran cannot live and trade, “no one will be able to.”
Hatami renewed his threat not to allow those he described as “enemies of the homeland” to exploit the Strait of Hormuz while the Iranian people are deprived of it, he said.
Hatami addressed the neighboring countries, saying: “I ask all our neighbors in the region to pay attention to this matter, and to know that cooperation with America does not create security, as the security of the region lies within it and in the hands of its countries themselves.”
The official IRNA news agency quoted Brigadier General Abolfazl Shakerchi, spokesman for the Iranian Armed Forces, as saying that there is “full readiness among the people and the armed forces to confront any aggression by the United States and the Zionist entity.”
Shakerji added that the qualitative development in missiles and drones gives Iran, according to him, a strategic advantage and an element of surprise, allowing it to respond to any attack using advanced military technologies.
These statements come at a time when Tehran is awaiting an official response from Washington to the proposal it submitted to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, despite US President Donald Trump announcing his rejection of the proposal and describing it as “unacceptable.”
Trump said on Saturday that the Iranians “want to conclude an agreement to open the Strait of Hormuz immediately because they are suffering losses,” according to what Reuters reported.
On the other hand, Araqchi said, in a meeting with Iranian reporters in New York, that clarifying Iranian conditions for reopening the Strait was the focus of the meetings he held there, in coordination and with the approval of the National Security Council, according to IRNA.
Araqchi added that the mediators in the talks between Washington and Tehran did not officially convey the United States’ rejection of the proposal, stressing that his country is awaiting the transfer of “final views” from the mediators before making its decision.
After Trump stated his rejection of the proposal, Araqchi said that the mediators in the talks between the United States and Iran did not officially convey the United States’ rejection of the Iranian proposal.
Araqchi Ali wrote in a post on social media: “We are waiting for the mediators to convey to us the final views, and we will make a decision based on them.”
But Reuters quoted an unnamed senior Iranian official as saying that Iran will not show flexibility regarding its nuclear program even if the United States accepts the proposal.
He added that Iran will not make concessions on its rights, including uranium enrichment or shipping highly enriched uranium out of the country, according to Reuters.
The American Wall Street Journal reported that Trump had privately expressed doubts that Iran would meet his demands, and that he expected to launch a new bombing campaign on Tehran after the US midterm elections in November 2026.
Trump's statement came a few days after he described the meeting of his envoys, Witkoff and Kushner, with the Iranian delegation in New York as "productive."
The US Ambassador to NATO, Matthew Whitaker, supported Trump's position rejecting the Iranian proposal.
Speaking to Fox News on Saturday, he said that Iran offered “half-measures” and “fake deals to appear good on the global stage.”
Treasury Secretary Scott Besent said on Saturday that the economic sanctions imposed by the United States were beginning to take their toll on Iran.
Whitaker wrote on the X platform that Türkiye, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates have suspended flights belonging to a number of Iranian airlines, and some banks in the Emirates and Turkey have also stopped their transactions with Iran.
The Trump administration imposed an economic blockade on Iran, in an attempt by the White House to use economic pressure with the aim of forcing Tehran to stop attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
But Brigadier General Shakerji told IRNA on Saturday that any ship that attempts to cross the strait outside the approved routes will be exposed to danger.
The Iranian delegation returned from participating in the United Nations General Assembly, which witnessed a meeting between the Iranian delegation and the American delegation at the level of diplomats following the talks.
Before leaving New York, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said, in an interview on the Qatari Al Jazeera TV, that Iran “will not surrender to pressure and threats” and that “dialogue is the way to resolve issues.”
Today marks the second anniversary of the assassination of the former Secretary-General of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, who was a strong ally of Iran, in air strikes carried out by the Israeli army on its headquarters in Beirut on September 27, 2024.
The head of the Islamic Media Coordination Council in Tehran Province announced the organization of nightly popular gatherings in various cities of the province, to commemorate the second anniversary of Nasrallah’s assassination, according to what IRNA reported.
Southern Lebanon is still witnessing raids and bombings, which the Israeli army says target infrastructure and military sites of Hezbollah.
The Lebanese state, with the approval of the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister, engaged in direct negotiations with the Israeli side under American sponsorship, but it has not succeeded to date in imposing a ceasefire and the withdrawal of the Israeli army, nor in establishing a mechanism to disarm Hezbollah, which is what Israel requires.
The United Nations announced on June 15 that the number of people displaced by the war in Lebanon reached about 1.4 million people.
On September 6, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees announced that 850,000 displaced people had returned to their areas of origin, and that the current number of displaced people was approximately 360,000, including at least 22,000 people residing in collective shelters.
