US Navy fires shots at Iran Guards boat in the Arabian Gulf

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dubai — A US Navy patrol boat fired warning shots on Tuesday near an Iranian vessel that American sailors said came dangerously close to them during a tense encounter in the Arabian Gulf. Iran’s hard-line Revolutionary Guard later blamed the American ship for provoking the incident.

The encounter involving the USS Thunderbolt, a Cyclone-class patrol ship based in Bahrain as part of the USNavy’s 5th Fleet, is the latest confrontation between Iranian vessels and American warships.

The Thunderbolt was taking part in an exercise with American and other coalition vessels in international waters when the Iranian patrol boat approached it, 5th Fleet spokesman Lt. Ian McConnaughey said. The Iranian ship did not respond to radio calls, flares and horn blasts as it came within 137 metres of the Thunderbolt, forcing the USsailors aboard to fire the warning shots, McConnaughey said.

Video released by the Navy included a sailor giving a position off the eastern coast of Kuwait as

instances of unsafe interactions with Iranian boats were recorded by the us navy in 2016

the Iranian vessel sat directly in front of an American warship’s bow. Another video included images of the Iranian ship off the Thunderbolt as its horn blared. .

Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard instead blamed the Thunderbolt for the incident in a statement, saying the American vessel moved toward one of its patrol boats. It said the Thunderbolt fired into the air “with the intention to provoke and create fear.”

The US Navy recorded 35 instances of what it describes as “unsafe and/or unprofessional” interactions with Iranians forces in 2016, compared to 23 in 2015. —