Has Iran captured an unmanned US submarine? What we know

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.Iranian state media identified the vessel as a Dive-LD – an autonomous underwater vehicle built by California-based defence firm Anduril Industries. The submersible, about six metres (20ft) long, is designed for long-duration missions such as surveillance, seabed mapping, and mine detection.Washington insists that the vessel “had malfunctioned a day ago”.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. Escalating the situation further, Iran said it attacked two US vessels and eight oil tankers.So, what do we know about Dive-LD and what does its capture mean for Iran?Iranian crude oil carriers before being struck, which US Central Command says it hit after attempted Iranian missile attacks on a US Navy warship over the past two days, at an unknown location i...