US Navy Fires Warning Shots At Iranian Vessel

A US Navy patrol boat has fired warning shots near an Iranian naval vessel during a tense encounter in the Persian Gulf.

The incident involved the USS Thunderbolt, a Cyclone-class patrol ship which was taking part in an exercise with other vessels in the Gulf.

A US official said the Iranian naval ship came within 150 yards of the Thunderbolt.

The official said the Iranian vessel did not respond to radio calls, flares and warning sirens, forcing US sailors to fire the warning shots.

Iranian authorities did not immediately report the incident.hands on their heads.

Iranian forces view the American presence in the Gulf as a provocation by itself.

They, in turn, have accused the US Navy of unprofessional behaviour, especially in the Strait of Hormuz, the mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a third of all oil trade by sea passes.

Iran and the US frequently have tense naval encounters in the Persian Gulf.

Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard blamed the Thunderbolt for the incident, saying the American vessel moved toward one of its patrol boats in the incident.

It said the Thunderbolt fired into the air

"with the intention to provoke and create fear".

A US official said the Iranian boat went "dead in the water" after the shots were fired, and the vessels all left the area without further incident.

The US Navy recorded 35 instances of what it describes as "unsafe and/or unprofessional" interactions with Iranian forces in 2016, compared to 23 in 2015.

Of the incidents last year, the worst involved Iranian forces capturing 10 US sailors and holding them overnight.

It became a propaganda coup for Iran's hard-liners, as Iranian state television repeatedly aired footage of the Americans on their knees, their