Iranian Guards say they attacked U.S. naval drone near Strait of Hormuz

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they attacked a U.S. naval drone trying to enter what they called the protected area of the Strait of Hormuz. The statement, carried by Iranian state television, came hours after Tehran and Washington traded strikes.

The Guards described the action as an attack by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Naval Forces against an American unmanned surface vessel. The latest clashes began with U.S. raids last week, as the two countries remained locked in a six-month war.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf warned that any aggression against Iran would receive a “faster, heavier, and more painful” response. Economy Minister Ali Madanizadeh said Tehran planned to answer U.S. economic pressure with reforms and rejected the idea that sanctions would force Iran to change course.

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faster, heavier, and more painful

Regional diplomacy continued alongside the fighting. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi discussed developments and negotiations with the United States by phone, Anadolu reported. Bahrain’s foreign minister also discussed bilateral ties and the situation in the strait with Egypt’s foreign minister, according to Al Jazeera.

In Lebanon, four people were killed and 20 injured in strikes that Israel said it carried out after Hezbollah launched drones at Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon. Lebanon’s health ministry said two people died in Nabatieh al-Fawqa and two women were killed in nearby Arab Salim. The U.S. Central Command said it had redirected 92 commercial vessels, disabled three and boarded two by September 6 to enforce its blockade. TankerTrackers said the crew of an Iranian oil tanker destroyed by the United States was safe and had probably been warned before the attack. Iranian authorities separately said they had arrested people shown waving the flag of the banned People’s Mujahedin Organisation of Iran.

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most likely been forewarned