Iran says U.S. Navy fires warning shots near its vessels in the Gulf
Associated Press
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard said Saturday a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier fired a warning shot in an “unprofessional” confrontation with Iranian vessels, the official IRNA news agency reported.
IRNA quoted a statement from the Guard as saying that the USS Nimitz and an accompanying ship came near an Iranian oil offshore platform in the Persian Gulf and a helicopter from the ship hovered an Iranian vessel that American near vessels manned by sailors said came dangerously Iran’s elite Revolutionary close to them during Guard. a tense encounter.
The report said the confrontation In January, near the end took place Friday of then-President Barack afternoon, and the U.S. naval Obama’s term, the USS ships left the area following Mahan fired shots toward the encounter. Iranian fast-attack boats as
The U.S. N a v y ’ s they neared the destroyer in Bahrain-based 5th Fleet the Strait of Hormuz. said the incident happened Iranian forces view the while one of its helicopters American presence in the was on a routine patrol in Gulf as a provocation. They international airspace. The have accused the U.S. Navy aircraft saw several Guard of unprofessional behavior, vessels approaching American especially in the Strait of ships “at a high rate of Hormuz, the mouth of the speed” and sent out flares Persian Gulf through which after receiving no response a third of all oil trade passes when it tried to establish by sea. communications, the Navy Also Saturday, Iran’s parliamentary said. That prompted the committee on Iranian boats to halt their national security and foreign approach. policy held an urgent
After communications meeting with deputy foreign were established, the U.S. minister and senior Iranian saw the Iranians conduct a negotiator Abbas Araghchi, “gun exercise.” That routine in which they reviewed measures exercise involved firing that the country may weapons into the water apply in response to a package away from American ships, of sanctions the U.S. said Navy spokesman Lt. Ian Senate approved Friday M. McConnaughey. against Iran and sent to
The Navy described the President Donald Trump for encounter “as safe and professional.” signing. Mr. Araghchi told state
The incident comes after a TV Saturday that the decision U.S. Navy patrol boat fired is a “hostile” breach of warning shots Tuesday near the deal.
“It is a breach of the deal in articles 26, 28 and 29,” said Mr. Araghchi. “A strong answer will be given to the action by the U.S.”
The articles say the U.S. Administration, acting consistently with the respective roles of the President and Congress, will refrain from re-imposing the sanctions or any policy specifically intended to directly and adversely affect the normalization of trade and economic relations with Iran.
The U.S. legislation imposes mandatory penalties on people involved in Iran’s ballistic missile program and anyone who does business with them. The measure would also apply terrorism sanctions to Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard and enforce an arms embargo. Democrats said the new sanctions would not conflict with the landmark 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.
On Friday, the United States, France, Germany and Britain, who brokered the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran along with China, Russia and the European Union, said they’re raising concerns with the United Nations over Iran’s Thursday launch of a satellite-carrying rocket into space.
In a joint statement, they said that Iran’s launch was “inconsistent” with a U.N. Security Council resolution that enshrined the nuclear deal.
On Saturday Iran’s foreign ministry said the missile program is part of “domestic policy of the country, deterrent and at service of regional peaceand security.”
Tehran and Washington have had no diplomatic relations since 1979 when Iranian militant students stormed the U.S. embassy and took 52 American hostages for 444 days.