Navy fires warning shots near Iran ship

U.S., Iran blame each other for the incident.

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRA U.S. Navy patrol ATES — ship fired warning shots Tuesday near an Iranian vessel that American sailors said came dangerously close to them during a tense encounter in the Persian Gulf, the first such incident to happen under President Donald Trump.

Iran’s hard-line Revolu- tionary Guard later blamed the American ship for provoking the situation.

The encounter involv- ing the USS Thunderbolt, a Cyclone-class patrol ship based in Bahrain as part of the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet, is the latest confrontation

between Iranian vessels and American warships.

It comes as Trump already has threatened to renegoti- ate the nuclear deal struck by his predecessor and after his administration previously put Iran “on notice” over its ballistic missile tests.

The Thunderbolt was taking part in an exercise with American and other coali- tion 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 150 yards of the Thunderbolt, forcing the U.S. sailors aboard to fire the warning shots, McConnaughey said.

“After the warning shots were fired, the Iranian vessel halted its unsafe approach,” the lieutenant said in a statement, adding that the Iranian vessel created “a risk for collision.” Video released by the Navy included a sailor giving a position off the eastern coast of Kuwait as 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. The sound of machine gun fire followed. Iran’s paramilitary Revo - lutionary Guard 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.” Iran and the U.S. frequently have tense naval encounters in the Persian Gulf, nearly all involving the Revolutionary Guard, a separate force from Iran’s military that answers only to the country’s supreme leader.

U.S. COAST GUARD The encounter involved the USS Thunderbolt, a Cyclone-class patrol ship based in Bahrain as part of the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet.

AP Source: Maps4News/HERE