ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said Sunday it targeted a US naval drone that allegedly attempted to enter a “protected area” of the Strait of Hormuz, following a series of overnight exchanges between the two sides.

In a statement, the IRGC said it “attacked a US military unmanned surface vessel (remotely operated floating) that was trying to enter the protected area of the Strait of Hormuz.”

The IRGC said it continued to monitor US military movements in the area and warned that any act of aggression would be “dealt with decisively.”

The statement came after renewed clashes overnight, with US Central Command (CENTCOM) saying Saturday that it had targeted three Iranian tankers in retaliation for Iran reportedly targeting two US Navy ships.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth later warned that US forces would strike Iran’s “defenseless” oil tankers if Iranian naval vessels targeted US ships.

Hours after the US attack, Iran responded by hitting “three oil tankers illegally passing through the Strait of Hormuz, and three [other] vessels” belonging to the US in other areas.

On Sunday morning, CENTCOM released footage it said showed the Iranian oil tanker M/T Kylo, which it said its forces had sunk in the Gulf of Oman. CENTCOM said the vessel had joined “Iran’s navy at the bottom of the sea.”

Military tensions between the two sides escalated Tuesday evening when CENTCOM announced that it was targeting IRGC targets in Iran following its alleged attempts to attack commercial ships.

The strikes were followed by a series of Iranian airstrikes targeting US interests across the Middle East, including the Kurdistan Region, Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan.

The recent escalation comes as little progress has been made in bringing the war to a conclusive halt. Despite Trump’s insistence that the Strait of Hormuz is open for transit, shipping data shows that commercial passage through the strategic waterway remains significantly below pre-conflict levels amid ongoing Iranian restrictions.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Tuesday said that Tehran is ready to return to the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed with Washington in July, which saw the temporary reopening of the strait before the US accused Iran of breaching its terms by targeting vessels failing to comply with Iranian-imposed shipping routes.