A U.S. Coast Guard ship fired warning shots during a close encounter with Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Navy vessels in the Strait of Hormuz off Iran, a Pentagon spokesman said.
“Earlier today, a large group of Iranian Revolutionary Guards speedboats performed unsafe and unprofessional maneuvers and failed to properly account for the safety of US forces as required by international law,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said in a briefing Monday.
Kirby said the 13 rapid-fire boats approached U.S. high-speed ships, approaching six yards (450 feet) of six U.S. Navy ships escorting the submarine with guided missiles. “Georgia” through the Strait of Hormuz.
He said a U.S. Coast Guard cutter fired about 30 warning shots from a .50-caliber machine gun at Iranian vessels after other warnings, including radio communications and horns.
After the second round of shots, when the boats were allegedly approached by the US Navy, Iranian ships left the area, Kirby added.
Iranian authorities have not yet commented on the Pentagon’s allegations.
This latest meeting is the second such incident with Iranian Revolutionary Guard ships reported by the US Navy in the last two weeks.
Late last month, the U.S. Fifth Fleet said in a statement that Iranian ships came within 68 yards (204 feet) of the Firebolt patrol boat and another U.S. ship in the Persian Gulf north of the Strait of Hormuz.
According to the statement, the Iranian ships did not heed the warnings on the radio and loudspeakers, and scattered at a safe distance after the crew of the American “Firebolt” fired warning shots at them.
These developments are happening as negotiators from the United States and Iran are involved in delicate and indirect negotiations in Vienna to resume the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Action Plan.
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