A series of encounters between Iranian and American naval vessels in the Persian Gulf this month were marked by Iranian violations of “international law and maritime standards”, the U.S. Navy said on Wednesday.
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In a later incident, an Iranian vessel came within 200 yards of colliding with the Tempest head-on, causing the crew of the Squall to fire three 50-caliber warning shots after radio and other warnings from both us ships failed.
He added that the Iranian vessels came within 300 yards (meters) of the American destroyer.
The U.S. fired flares and attempted radio communication, but both were unsuccessful.
Pentagon Spokesman Peter Cook told reporters Thursday that shots were fired into the water.
USA and Iranian navies in the Persian Gulf have long eyed each other warily, despite diplomatic efforts between the two countries.
Iranian Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan said Iranian maritime units are responsible for the security of Iran and the Persian Gulf and are obliged to monitor actions of foreign vessels in the region. Our ships are operating as they have for years in that part of the world, in global waters, and will continue to do so.
On Tuesday (23 August), four Iranian vessels had reportedly conducted “a high-speed intercept” of the destroyer, despite repeated warnings by the warship near the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf.
In one incident, a number of Iranian attack boats made high speed runs toward the two PCs operating in global waters, forcing the United States sailors to take “appropriate steps to deescalate the incident”, he said.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also denied that the USA had any legitimate reason to patrol the Gulf, which contains important worldwide shipping lanes, according to Tasnim. Our ships have been operating in that part of the world for years.
On Thursday the the semi-official Tasnim news agency of Iran quoted General Hosein Dehghan voicing defiance in the face of the Pentagon’s complaints.
Crews of USA boats were detained in January after their vessels veered into Iranian waters.
“We would note we don’t know what the intentions of the Iranian ships were, but that behavior is unacceptable as our ships were in worldwide waters”.
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The American troops were released the next day unharmed, but US officials said Iran broke worldwide policy by arresting the sailors at gunpoint.
