Tehran

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei on Monday said that the American submarine taken by Iran was "captured as spoils of war", asserting that such spoils are legitimate, Iran's IRNA News Agency reported.

Speaking about the American submarine taken by Iran, Baghaei said, "It was not confiscated; it was captured as spoils of war, and such spoils are legitimate."

On Saudi Arabia's request to postpone the regional summit, Baghaei said that attributing the request to developments in Yemen was a deviation from the main roots of the crisis, as reported by the Iranian media.

"Saudi Arabia's request to postpone the regional summit and attribute it to developments in Yemen is a deviation from the main roots of the crisis," he said.

Baghaei added that Iran has always supported the roadmap agreed upon by the Yemeni parties and said the continuation of conflict between Islamic countries was in line with the "Zionist regime's goals for perpetuating insecurity", according to Iranian media.

He said, "Iran has always supported the roadmap agreed upon by the Yemeni parties and considers the continuation of conflict between Islamic countries to be in line with the Zionist regime's goals for perpetuating insecurity."

The remarks come as the conflict in West Asia is simmering again, with fighting intensifying in Yemen as Houthi rebels advance towards Saudi-backed government-held areas, including the strategic oil- and gas-rich province of Marib and the city of Taiz, while Saudi Arabia faces growing pressure to respond.

According to Al Jazeera, Houthi rebels are advancing towards government strongholds in Marib and Taiz, raising concerns over a renewed offensive. Marib has remained one of the most strategically important government-held areas in Yemen since the conflict escalated in 2015, with major army bases, oil and gas fields, a key power station and more than two million displaced people.

Amid reports that the Houthis are massing forces around Marib, Yemen's government forces have said they are prepared to defend the province against any renewed offensive.

Meanwhile,  the Iranian Revolutionary Guards earlier in September claimed responsibility for seizing an uncrewed American submarine near the gateway of the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian state media outlets identified the captured hardware as a Dive-LD, representing a large autonomous underwater vehicle manufactured by the California-based defence contractor Anduril.

The 19-foot submersible is engineered to perform diverse operations, including mine countermeasures, seabed mapping, intelligence gathering, and the examination of submerged critical infrastructure such as cables and pipelines, according to manufacturer specifications.

Announcing the seizure through state media, the Revolutionary Guards Navy declared, "We trapped one of the most modern, intelligent and unmanned submarines of the terrorist American army at the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz. This submersible is equipped with the latest technologies."

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Countering the Iranian claims, a Pentagon spokesperson clarified that an underwater drone had experienced technical failure more than a day prior.

Explaining the operational context, the spokesperson stated that the unit "was surveying regional waters in support of ongoing operations. The defective drone was an older model that neither collected sensitive data nor carried any classified sonar or radar equipment".