A US Navy ship fired about 30 warning shots at Revolutionary Guard Navy starships that approached it and other US Navy ships in the Strait of D ‘Hormuz, the Pentagon reported on Monday, May 10.
This incident comes at a time when Washington and Tehran are engaged in indirect discussions on the conditions of a return of the United States in the Vienna agreement, which relates to the Iranian nuclear power.
According to Pentagon spokesman John Kirby, the Iranian stars approached within 150 yards of a cluster of six American buildings. “Harassment by Revolutionary Guards is not a new phenomenon”, insisted Mr. Kirby. “It’s dangerous, it’s unprofessional. This is the kind of action that can cause injuries and lead to misjudgments in the region ”, he stressed. The Pentagon spokesman clarified that US ships have the right “In self-defense” and that they knew how to use it.
He also noted that these maneuvers had taken place in the Strait of Hormuz, where the boats have little space to navigate. “It is a bottleneck in the region”, thus pointed out John Kirby.
By the end of April, three Iranian rapid attack ships had approached within 70 meters of two American ships in the international waters of the northern Persian Gulf, resulting in warning shots from of the US Navy, according to the latter. The Strait of Hormuz is a strategic passage through which passes a third of the oil transported by sea in the world.