On Wednesday, a US Navy vessel on patrol in the Persian Gulf fired three warning shots at an Iranian small craft that charged to within 200 yards.
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A White House spokesman said such incidents are cause for concern and increase risks of miscalculation.
Because the USA doesn’t have diplomatic relations with Iran, Mr. Earnest said, “our ability to discern exactly what their intent was is limited”.
Another interaction took place between an Iranian and US ship on August 24, although USA defense officials disclosed few details on that incident.
One of the five military vessels from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps that approached a USA warship hosting one of America’s top generals on a day trip through the Strait of Hormuz is pictured in this July 11, 2016 handout photo.
An US Navy official said four Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps vessels conducted a “high-speed intercept” of the USS Nitze in waters near the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, deeming the incident “unsafe and unprofessional”. “After warning shots, if the commander on scene believes there is hostile intent, the unit will take the targets under fire”.
The incidents came the day after Iranian ships made similar hostile maneuvers around the destroyer USS Nitze in the Strait of Hormuz, and came within 300 yards of the USA ship. The boats veered off after the US fired flares.
Commander William Urban, a spokesman for the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet made a statement to the press saying that the USS Squall and the USS Tempest were participating in an exercise with a Kuwaiti patrol boat in the northern Persian Gulf.
That same Iranian ship later approached the USS Stout, a guided-missile destroyer, later Wednesday.
Later that day, Tempest and Squall were harassed by a single Iranian Naser-class patrol boat, which is known to be operated by the IRGC. He said the US ships are conducting themselves in a safe and professional manner and they will continue to take whatever steps they need to protect themselves.
Video of the incident involving the USS Nitze shows American sailors firing flares and sounding the warship’s horn as the Iranian boats approached.
Iran’s defense minister said Thursday that his naval forces will warn or confront any foreign ship entering the country’s territorial waters.
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According to USA officials, the incidents all involved the IRGC, which operates a navy in parallel to Iran’s regular naval force, and whose leaders answer directly to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Defense News reported.
