Iranian Navy Boats Harass US Naval Vessels In The Persian Gulf
Iranian navy vessels that were under the leadership of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards provoked the US Navy in the Middle East in a significant incident Last week.
According to the Washington Post, the US military classified the Iranian boats’ speed as “dangerously high” after they recklessly circled two American ships and approached them.
A US military official said that the USS Sirocco, a Cyclone-class patrol ship, and the USNS Choctaw County, a fast transport ship, were on a routine transit through international waters in the Persian Gulf when three Iranian boats quickly approached the Sirocco.
They only turned back after Sirocco gave an audible warning signal, and the Iranian boats likewise approached and were within 50 yards of the Choctaw County ship before the latter sent out a light warning, the speaker added.
The activities of the Iranian navy “do not match international norms of professional and safe maritime behavior, raising the possibilities of miscalculation and collision,” according to Col.Joseph Buccino, a spokesperson for the US Central Command.
To support regional stability, he stated, “US Central Command forces will continue to fly, sail, and operate wherever in the area as is authorized by international law.”
According to officials, the tense contact on Monday, which lasted for approximately an hour, ended when the Iranian ships departed the region. The last close encounter in the Gulf between Iranian and American ships occurred here.
According to accounts, two American ships patrolling international waters in the Persian Gulf were approached by three similarly quick Iranian assault ships last year. The American ships fired warning shots as the Iranian ships approached within 68 yards of them.
In 2020, the US claimed that 11 Iranian ships had circled American ships in an ” unprofessional” manner.
The US occasionally accused Iranian planes of threatening and risky maneuvers against American ships on international seas, and the Iranian army claimed that Iranian ships harassed American ships in the Persian Gulf.
