Both encounters are reminiscent of an instance in January in which two US Navy patrol vessels drifted into Iranian waters in the Persian Gulf.
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After a brief radio exchange, the Iranians refused to leave, CNN reported, forcing the us ships to follow defensive maritime procedures and fire three warning shots at the Iranian vessel. A day later, the USS Squall fired three warning shots to deter boats under the command of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard in the heavily trafficked waterway.
In three separate incidents this week, Iranian Naval vessels harassed US Navy ships in confrontations that could easily have escalated.
There have been two more incidents in which Iranian fast attack craft rapidly approached USA warships in the Persian Gulf in an “unprofessional manner”, requiring one American vessel to fire two warning shots, Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said August 25. But it was one of few the U.S. Navy has deemed unsafe or unprofessional.
The American troops were released the next day unharmed, but USA officials said Iran broke worldwide policy by arresting the sailors at gunpoint.
The incidents involving the Iranian ships and parts of the U.S. Navy’s 5th fleet spanned multiple days and included two U.S. patrol ships, the USS Squall and Tempest as well as two U.S. destroyers, the USS Nitze and Stout. The USS Nitze attempted to make contact with the Iranian vessels 12 times, but received no response. Dehghan claimed that the U.S. ships were in Iranian waters and his naval forces have been ordered to warn or confront any foreign ship that entered the country’s territory. It also fired 10 flares.
Bill Urban, the Iranian boat came within 200 yards of the USS Tempest and ignored several bridge-to-bridge radio calls and warning flares.
As two of the Iranian vessels continued to barrel toward the Nitze at high speed, the destroyer used an internationally recognized maritime danger signal three times…
The incident is the most serious since USA sailors were taken into Iranian custody in January after their boat sailed into Iranian waters.
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The incident, which happened on August 24, started with three Iranian vessels, but there was only one around by the time the warning shots were fired, US officials said. In a June speech, Khamenei said, “The Persian Gulf security relates to the countries of the region which have common interests, and not to the US”.
