Tehran, Iran:
Iran’s Republican Guards stated Tuesday they warned US vessels following Washington stated warning shots have been fired close to Iranian attack boats, the most recent confrontation in between the rivals in the Gulf.
The US had earlier stated the warning shots have been fired following more than a dozen Iranian quick attack boats buzzed close to a US Navy submarine and escort ships in the narrow Strait of Hormuz on Monday.
The Revolutionary Guards’ navy confirmed it had encountered seven US vessels in the incident, but stated it warned them “while maintaining the legal distance … against their risky and unprofessional behaviour, after which they continued on their way”.
It stated in a statement that the US behaviour incorporated “flying helicopters, firing flares, and aimless, unnecessary and provocative shooting”.
The Guards stated its navy was conducting “routine missions in the territorial waters” of Iran, but did not specify irrespective of whether the American vessels had entered the Islamic republic’s waters.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby had stated earlier that 13 Guards’ boats approached the seven US vessels at higher speeds, closing inside 140 metres (150 yards) just before one of the US vessels fired 30 shots in two volleys, till they moved away.
“Sadly harassment by the IRGC-N is not a new phenomenon,” stated Kirby, referring to the Guards’ navy.
“It’s unsafe, it’s unprofessional. It’s the kind of activity that can lead to somebody getting hurt, and can lead to a real miscalculation there in the region,” Kirby added.
In response, the Guards named on Washington to prevent “false narratives”, and accused it of getting “the centre of instability, threat and insecurity in the region”.
The encounter was the second such incident in two weeks, according to the US Navy.
In late April, 3 Iranian quick inshore attack craft provoked warning shots when they came close to two US vessels in international waters in the northern component of the Gulf, it stated.
And in early April 4 Guard vessels, 3 quick attack craft and a substantial Harth 55 catamaran similarly came close to two US Coast Guard patrol ships, crossing their bows even though ignoring warnings.
In its statement, the Guards’ navy stated its forces will “calmly and confidently follow their missions in the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf” and are prepared to respond to “any miscalculation” by the US.
The confrontations comes amid talks in Vienna in between Iran and important powers on reviving a landmark 2015 nuclear deal abandoned 3 years later by then US president Donald Trump.
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