The USS Nitze, a guided missile destroyer, was intercepted by four Iranian military boats near the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, US defense officials said.
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The USS Tempest, a Cyclone-class patrol ship, was also harassed in the same incident in which the Iranian boats sped to within about 200 yards of the American vessels.
In January, the Iranian navy captured 10 crewmembers from two American patrol boats that strayed into Iranian waters.
When it failed to leave the area after the Navy had fired flares and had a radio conversation with the Iranian crew, CNN quoted the United States officials as saying.
“Ultimately, Squall resorted to firing three warning shots from their.50-caliber gun, which caused the Iranian vessel to turn away”, he added.
Dehghan’s comments came after four vessels from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard approached a US destroyer on Tuesday in what an American defence official described as a “high speed intercept” near the Strait of Hormuz.
The U.S. asserts that the ships were in worldwide waters at the time.
Tensions are always on a knife edge, which is why US officials are so unimpressed with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The official wasn’t authorized to discuss the matter publicly so spoke anonymously.
Over the past year and a half, almost 10 percent of Iran’s interactions with the U.S. Navy were deemed unsafe or unprofessional, Urban said, adding that all maritime nations should “act in a professional manner in accordance with global law”.
The same Iranian boat that harassed the Tempest also crossed in front of the USS Stout three times at high speed Wednesday in the same region, USA officials said. The Nitze altered course away from the approaching Iranian vessels.
Iran says its naval forces will warn or confront any ship entering its territorial waters. The Iranian vessel crossed the bow of the Stout three times.
They come against the backdrop of renewed U.S. diplomatic contacts with Iran.
“If an American ship enters Iran’s maritime region, it will definitely get a warning”, ISNA news agency quoted Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan as saying on August 25.
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Earlier in the day, the Squall and Tempest encountered three other small Iranian boats that ran in front of them three times, coming as close as 600 yards.
