Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi: “We have not lost any drone in the Strait of Hormuz nor anywhere else. I am worried that USS Boxer has shot down their own UAS [Unmanned Aerial System] by mistake!,”

Of course they are going to deny it, it has multiple warnings and even if and when they declassify if should the details be classified, Iran will still deny it. Why do you think they took the UL vessel? It was retaliation plain and simple. They are going to use it as leverage showing they can hold out and wait for sanctions to be lessened despite their economy going to hell. They are probably selling a fraction of the oil they normally do and are suffering in the mean time. The only thing they have is their people still believing in the regime's power and if painting the US as the instigator in this case accomplishes that, they they will continue to do this type of stuff.

/r/worldnews Thread Link - reuters.com