US navy ship fires warning shots at Iranian boat in Gulf
A US navy ship yesterday fired warning shots at an Iranian vessel that came within 137 metres of it in the Arabian Gulf.
A US official said the USS Thunderbolt fired the warning shots after the Iranian boat approached at high speed and ignored radio calls, flares and the ship’s whistle.
The Thunderbolt was accompanied by US coastguard boats. The Iranian vessel appeared to be from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and was armed, but the weapons were unmanned.
Years of mutual animosity had eased when Washington lifted sanctions on Tehran last year as part of a deal to curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
But serious differences remain over Iran’s ballistic missile programme and conflicts in Syria and Iraq.
The Trump administration, which has struck a hard line on Iran, recently declared that Iran was complying with its nuclear agreement with world powers.
But it also warned that Tehran was not following the spirit of the accord and that Washington would look for ways to strengthen it.
During the presidential campaign last September, US president Donald Trump vowed any Iranian vessels that harassed the US navy in the Gulf would be “shot out of the water.”
Such incidents occur occasionally.
In January, a US navy destroyer fired three warning shots at four Iranian fast-attack vessels near the Strait of Hormuz after they closed in at high speed and disregarded repeated requests to slow down.
And in March, a US navy ship was forced to change course after fast-attack ships from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard came too close.
There have been other instances this year when US vessels fired warning flares.