USA/AT SEA: Iranian boats carry out aggressive maneuvers showing hostile intent against U.S. Navy ships, says Pentagon

Record ID: 166582

  • Title: USA/AT SEA: Iranian boats carry out aggressive maneuvers showing hostile intent against U.S. Navy ships, says Pentagon
  • Date: 8th January 2008
  • Summary: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (JANUARY 7, 2008) (POOL) STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN SEAN MCCORMACK ENTERING BRIEFING ROOM (SOUNDBITE) (English) SEAN MCCORMACK, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN SAYING: "We would urge Iran to refrain from any provocative actions that could lead to dangerous incidents in the future. The Department of Defense could provide you the details of this particular incident. Bottom line is, our ship, after the incident occurred, moved along safely and continued on its mission. There are a number of military, as well as commercial, vessels that have legitimate passage through the Strait of Hormuz. We believe that should continue. And it's important to have that legitimate commerce continue through the Straits of Hormuz and through the Persian Gulf. "
  • Embargoed: 23rd January 2008 12:00
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  • Topics: International Relations,Defence / Military
  • Reuters ID: LVA79BO73K50258MQJMYMYLP5VIX
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: Five Iranian boats made aggressive maneuvers and showed hostile intent towards three U.S. Navy ships at the weekend in the Strait of Hormuz, a major oil shipping route in the Gulf, the Pentagon said on Monday (January 7).
    The Pentagon said the incident was serious. It described the Iranian actions as "careless, reckless and potentially hostile" and said Tehran should provide an explanation.
    The incident was the latest sign of tension between Washington and Tehran, at odds over a range of issues from Iran's nuclear program to U.S.
    allegations of Iranian support for terrorism.
    U.S. President George W. Bush is due to travel to the Middle East this week on a trip he has said is partly aimed at countering Iranian influence.
    The incident took place about 4 a.m. GMT on Sunday, or late Saturday night in Washington, the officials said.
    According to the officials, the radio transmission from one of the Iranian ships said: "I am coming at you. You will explode in a couple of minutes."
    The Iranian boats were believed to belong to Iran's Revolutionary Guard, the officials said.
    In March, Iran seized 15 British sailors and marines in the Gulf and accused them of trespassing in Iranian territory while they inspected a merchant vessel. London maintained the British personnel were in Iraqi waters.
    Vice Adm. Kevin Cosgriff, the commander of the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet which is responsible for operations in the Gulf, said the Iranian boats moved aggressively towards the U.S. ships and their actions were "unduly provocative."
    "The ships received a radio call that was threatening in nature, to the effect that they were closing on our ships and... the U.S. ships would explode," Cosgriff told reporters at the Pentagon via videolink from his Bahrain headquarters.
    The U.S. Navy believed the Iranian boats belonged to the country's Revolutionary Guard and they were sometimes less than 500 yards from the U.S.
    ships, Cosgriff said.
    In October, the United States designated the Revolutionary Guard Corps a proliferator of weapons of mass destruction and its elite Qods force a supporter of terrorism.
    Some Pentagon officials said the captain of one of the U.S. vessels was in the process of ordering sailors to open fire when the Iranian boats moved away.
    The three U.S. ships involved were the USS Port Royal, USS Hopper and the USS Ingraham.
    Cosgriff said the U.S. Navy was very mindful of the damage small craft could do to large ships. Al Qaeda militants killed 17 U.S. sailors when they rammed an explosives-laden boat into the side of the USS Cole, a destroyer, in Yemen in 2000.
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