Navy
Iran Vessels 'Harass' US Navy Boat
The US military says three Iranian fast boats emerged from behind fishing vessels and harassed a Navy patrol boat in the Persian Gulf on Sunday.
It says the USS Firebolt had three fast boats from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN) manoeuvre close to it.
At one point, according to Pentagon spokesman Capt. Jeff Davis, one boat turned towards the Firebolt and stopped right in front of it, coming within 100 yards of a collision - when the Firebolt made an evasive manoeuvre.
Davis is quoted as saying by ABC News that this was despite the Firebolt attempting multiple radio communications that went unheeded:
"This is another example of an unsafe and unprofessional interaction we've had with the IRGCN in the Gulf".
The three fast boats are said to have manoeuvred around the Firebolt for roughly eight minutes, coming within 500 yards.
Four other fast boats then went in the direction of the nearby aircraft carrier USS Eisenhower.
Cyclone-class coastal patrol boat USS Firebolt (PC-10) during an exercise in 2011
The Eisenhower, however, have proved too fast for the boats and they ended the chase, with one of them coming close to the now trailing Firebolt and causing more evasive manoeuvres.
Another defence official has said that this was a dangerous, harassing situation that could have escalated.
In recent weeks, a different patrol boat fired warning shots at an Iranian ship that was fast approaching it, and the USS Nitze, a destroyer, reported an unsafe encounter with several Iranian craft that got to within 300 yards.
Cover image: US Navy photo of three Iranian Revolutionary Guard small craft that intercepted the US Navy destroyer USS Nitze near the Strait of Hormuz last month
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