On Friday (2 September), the Iranian navy announced that it had seized two American-made sailing drones in the Red Sea because they were apparently "ownerless and uncontrolled, threatening the navigational safety of shipping". Following two calls from an American destroyer in the sea area, the two drones were taken on board the Iranian destroyer "Jamaran" without further ado and released again after an inspection away from the shipping lanes. This was combined with a request to the US Navy to please prevent such incidents in future. Iranian state television published corresponding scenes from on board the destroyer. On the American side, it sounded a little different: after the capture, the US destroyer followed the Iranian destroyer with its helicopter until it dropped the two "Saildrone Explorer" again.
Not the first time
A few days earlier, the US Naval Institute published a video sequence recorded by an MH-60S Sea Hawk in the Persian Gulf of a seemingly unreal chase along the lines of: "If you play on my doorstep - I'll take your toys away! The Iranian support ship "Shahid Baziar" of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards had one of the American naval drones in tow - accompanied at a short distance by the patrol boat USS Thunderbolt. Without taking the situation to extremes, "Thunderbolt" and Sea Hawk kept at it and after some time were able to convince the "Shahid Baziar" to release the "Saildrone Explorer" - what else could she do!
Comprehensive monitoring
The US Navy is not currently providing any information on the number of drones deployed, but they are already providing significantly better reconnaissance of the sea areas. Next year, the US Navy hopes to expand its cooperation with Israel and Saudi Arabia as well as some other Gulf states to such an extent that around 100 of these networked drones can be expected to be deployed at sea and in the air. This would provide a good picture of Iranian activities around the peninsula! However, there still seems to be room for improvement - at least as far as theft protection is concerned.
English 
German
"Your comment is waiting for modertaion": What is a "modertaion" ...?
A cheerful "Moin!" to Munich. Thanks for the hint, I think the change letters have been posted.
Is the classification "destroyer" for the "Jamaran" ( type Vosper Mk 5 ) correct ...?
Your question is quite appropriate - the "Jamaran", with its 95 metres in length and a displacement of around 1,400 tonnes, is more like a straight corvette if you wanted to compare it with our K130 "Braunschweig" class. It is the type ship of the Mowj class, which is an Iranian replica of the now 50-year-old and relatively economical Vosper Mk 5 frigate - at the time of the Vosper Mk V, the term corvette was not really in use. Nevertheless, the Mowj class is listed in international documentation as a missile frigate (FFG). However, the Iranian navy likes to refer to the ships as "destroyers", especially as they are the largest conventional warships that Tehran has at its disposal. As the above report was based on Iranian sources, among others, the designation has been adopted. A corresponding additional reference in the text would certainly have been helpful - thanks to your comment, it has now been added to the report.
PS: I have just done the "moderation" that your comment was waiting for. The editors reserve the right to approve, reply to, delete or block comments. This is more necessary than ever with today's flood of spam.
With many thanks
A. Stephenson