The U.S. fired flares and attempted radio communication with the Iranian boats but both were unsuccessful, so the Squall fired a few shots into the water as a deterrent.
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The latest incidents took place Wednesday in the northern Persian Gulf, US defense officials reported today.
In three separate incidents this week, Iranian Naval vessels harassed US Navy ships in confrontations that could easily have escalated.
“The Iranian high rate of closure on a United States ship operating in accordance with worldwide law while transiting in global waters along with the disregard of multiple warning attempts created a unsafe, harassing situation that could have led to further escalation including additional defensive measures by Nitze”, Urban said in a statement.
All three encounters Wednesday occurred in worldwide waters in the northern Persian Gulf, Urban said.
“The Iranian high-rate-of-speed approaches towards three Unites States ships operating in worldwide waters in accordance with global law along with multiple bow crossings at short range and the disregard of multiple warning attempts created a risky, harassing situation that could have led to further escalation”, Urban said.
When it failed to leave the area after the Navy had fired flares and had a radio conversation with the Iranian crew, the USS Squall fired three warning shots as per the standard maritime procedures, said United States officials.
Last December, Iranian ships fired rockets near USA warship and other vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, and a month later flew an unarmed drone over the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf.
But Iran’s Defence Minister, General Hosein Dehghan, said the USA ships were in Iranian waters. The Nitze also tried to communicate with the Iranians over the radio, and also changed course to avoid the vessels.
A defense official told AFP that ships from the USA and Iranian navies had interacted more than 300 times in 2015 and more than 250 times the first half of this year.
In a similar incident Tuesday in the Persian Gulf, four Iranian fast-attack craft went into a weaving pattern at high speed and two of them came within 300 yards of the guided-missile destroyer Nitze before turning away, according to video obtained by the Associated Press.
Iranian Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan said the Iranian vessels were just doing their job. “Commanding officers have an inherent obligation for self-defense”.
His comment followed Pentagon officials claim that Iranian speedboats “harassed” USA warships in the Strait of Hormuz, PressTV reported.
In January, Iran detained 10 U.S. sailors at gunpoint after they ended up in Iranian waters.
The 10 American sailors were released within 24 hours.
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But Iran remained defiant in the face of US accusations.
