Navy fires warning shot at Iranian boat in Arabian Gulf

WASHINGTON — Iranian ships made reckless maneuvers close to four U.S. warships this week in a series of incidents that could have led to dangerous escalation, defense officials said Thursday.

In one incident Wednesday, the patrol ship USS Squall fired warning shots at an Iranian vessel during a patrol in the Arabian Gulf.

Pentagon Spokesman Peter Cook told reporters Thursday that shots were fired into the water.

“These were incidents that the crews deemed unsafe,” Cook said. “These are incidents that carry a risk of escalation and we don’t desire any kind of escalation.

“Our ships have been operating in that part of the world for years,” Cook explained.

The incidents involving the Iranian ships and parts of the U.S. Navy’s 5th fleet spanned multiple days and included two U.S. patrol ships, the USS Squall and Tempest as well as two U.S. destroyers, the USS Nitze and Stout.

William Urban, a spokesman for 5th Fleet, said vessels from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps conducted a “high-speed intercept” and passed close to the USS Nitze, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, in international waters around the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday.

The Iranian ships buzzed the Nitze ignored repeated radio, whistle and flare warnings from the Nitze and slowed their approach only when they were within 300 yards of the U.S. ship, Urban said. He described the Iranian actions as “unsafe and unprofessional.”

The Nitze was accompanied by the USS Mason, a guided missile destroyer, as it made what Urban described as a “routine transit” through an area that is an important international maritime thoroughfare.