US navy fires warning shots at Iranian vessel

WASHINGTON: A US navy patrol ship fired warning shots at an Iranian Revolutionary Guard vessel in the Arabian Gulf yesterday after it approached within 150 yards, a US defense official said. “The IRGCN boat was coming in at a high rate of speed. It did not respond to any signals, they did not respond to any bridge-tobridge calls, they felt there was no choice except to fire the warning shots,” the defense official told AFP. The incident occurred at about 3:00 am local time (0000 GMT) in the northern Gulf, when the Iranian vessel began to approach the USS Thunderbolt. After the US ship fired the warning shots, the Iranian vessel stopped, the official said, at which point the Thunderbolt continued on her way.