Iran Says U.S. Navy Fires Warning Shots Near Its Vessels

by Dramelin 6:00 AM 0 comments

Tehran, Iran (AP) -- Iran`s elite Revolutionary Guard said Saturday a U.
Navy aircraft carrier fired a warning shot in an "unprofessional" confrontation with Iranian vessels, the official IRNA news agency reported.
IRNA quoted a statement from the Guard as saying that the USS Nimitz and an accompanying ship came near an Iranian oil offshore platform in the Persian Gulf and a helicopter from the ship hovered near vessels manned by Iran`s elite Revolutionary Guard.
The report said the confrontation took place Friday afternoon and the U.
navy ships left the area following the encounter.
Navy`s Bahrain-based 5th Fleet had no immediate comment.
The incident comes after a U.
Navy patrol boat fired warning shots Tuesday near an Iranian vessel that American sailors said came dangerously close to them during a tense encounter.
Iran and the U.
frequently have run-ins 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.
In January, near the end of then-President Barack Obama`s term, the USS Mahan fired shots toward Iranian fast-attack boats as they neared the destroyer in the Strait of Hormuz.
Iranian forces view the American presence in the Gulf as a provocation.
They have accused the U.
Navy of unprofessional behavior, especially in the Strait of Hormuz, the mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a third of all oil trade passes by sea.