A U.S. Navy patrol craft fired warning shots past an Iranian naval vessel in the Persian Gulf on July 25.
According to a U.S. official who spoke on the condition of anonymity, the U.S. Navy patrol boat, the Thunderbolt, was patrolling with several Coast Guard ships.
This group was approached by what appeared to be an Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps vessel. The Iranian vessel ignored repeated radio warnings and flares, heading at the U.S. flotilla at high speed.
When the Iranian boat was about 150 yards away, the Thunderbolt fired a pair of warning shots.
According to the U.S. official, the Iranian vessel was armed but the guns were unmanned.
After the incident the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard navy issued a statement through its media arm, Sepah News.
The statement claimed that a U.S. Navy battleship moved toward a Revolutionary Guard vessel operating in international waters and fired two shots over it.
“The Revolutionary Guard navy boat, without paying attention to this unprofessional and provocative behavior, continued its mission and after a short period of time the American ship left the area,” the statement said.
These confrontations are actually not uncommon. The last occurred on March 5, 2017, when a U.S. Navy ship sailing through the Strait of Hormuz had to adjust its course to avoid four fast-moving Iranian patrol vessels.
The Navy destroyer USS Mahan fired three warning shots at a group of four fast-moving Iranian patrol vessels near the Strait of Hormuz on Jan. 8, 2017.
The July 25 incident is the first since U.S. President Donald Trump took office.
President Trump told a crowd at a rally in Pensacola, Florida, in September 2016 that he would not tolerate such behavior from the Iranian navy.
“When they circle our beautiful destroyers with their little boats and they make gestures at our people that they shouldn’t be allowed to make, they will be shot out of the water,” he said.
