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U.S. Navy warships in the Persian Gulf. (Reuters)
Last update - 23:34 07/01/2008
U.S. Navy comes within seconds of opening fire on Iranian boats
By The Associated Press
Tags: Iran, Pentagon, U.S. Navy 

In what is being called a serious provocation, Iranian Revolutionary Guard boats harassed and provoked three U.S. Navy ships in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, officials said Monday.

U.S. forces were on the verge of firing on the Iranian boats in the early Sunday incident, when the boats ended the incident and turned and moved away, said a Pentagon official.

"It is the most serious provocation of this sort that we've seen yet," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the record.
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The incident occurred at about 5 a.m. local time Sunday as a U.S. Navy cruiser, destroyer and frigate were transiting the strait on their way into the Gulf.

"Five small boats were acting in a very aggressive way, charging the ships, dropping boxes in the water in front of the ships and causing our ships to take evasive maneuvers," the Pentagon official said.

"There were no injuries but there very well could have been," he said, adding that the Iranian boats turned away literally at the very moment that U.S. forces were preparing to open fire in self defense.

He said he did not have the precise transcript of communications that the two forces exchanged, but the Iranians radioed something to the effect that "we're coming at you and you'll explode in a couple minutes."

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammed Ali Hosseini played down the incident, suggesting it was an issue of misidentification. He did not comment on the U.S. claims of the Iranian boats' actions.

"That is something normal that takes place every now and then for each party, and it [the problem] is settled after identification of the two parties," he told the state news agency IRNA.

The incident was similar to past ones that were resolved once the two sides recognized each other.

U.S. Navy and Iranian officials have said in the past that vessels from the two rival nations frequently come into contact in the waters of the narrow, heavily trafficked Gulf. They often communicate by radio to avoid incidents.

But the latest incident was the first time U.S. officials have spoken of such a direct threat from Iranian boats.

Historical tensions between the two nations have increased in recent years over Washington's charge that Tehran has been developing nuclear weapons and supplying and training Iraqi insurgents using roadside bombs - the number one killer of U.S. troops in Iraq.

In another incident off its coast, Iranian Revolutionary Guard sailors last March captured 15 British sailors and held them for nearly two weeks.

The 15 sailors from HMS Cornwall, including one woman, were captured on March 23. Iran claims the crew, operating in a small patrol craft, had intruded into Iranian waters - a claim denied by Britain.


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      1.   Remember the USS Vincennes 17:32  |  Natallie Durson 07/01/08
      2.   Maybe the US should stop surrounding Iran with Military 17:42  |  POP 07/01/08
      3.   BASED ON THE TRUTH, NOTHING BUT TRUTH? 17:46  |  indrajaya 07/01/08
      4.   great news - they`re as stupid as we`d thought 17:48  |  frenz 07/01/08
      5.   natallie,what the hell are you doing in america? your patronage 17:54  |  terrornator 07/01/08
      6.   America would collapse if it attacked Iran... 17:55  |  POP 07/01/08
      7.   Remember Gulf of Tonkin 18:13  |  US Observer 07/01/08
      8.   The US guarantees all international trade 18:25  |  john 07/01/08
      9.   Very true Natallie! 18:25  |  American 07/01/08
      10.   PoP 18:26  |  Neal 07/01/08
      11.   Who are stupid Frenz? Iranians or US navy? 18:27  |  Michael 07/01/08
      12.   Those pinheads are lucky to be alive - next time don`t wait US 18:30  |  B`Galil 07/01/08
      13.   Just a matter of time - soon Iran will face brutal cold steel 18:33  |  Johnny 07/01/08
      14.   to #9 American - Didn`t you read #8 ??? 18:33  |  B`Galil 07/01/08
      15.   #8, John 18:36  |  DR 07/01/08
      16.   #13 Johnny 18:52  |  ballistic 07/01/08
      17.   Terrornator, I take it you don`t live in a democracy 18:52  |  anti-racist 07/01/08
      18.   releave the captian of the US ship of his command 18:54  |  vik 07/01/08
      19.   #15 Say DR 18:55  |  ballistic 07/01/08
      20.   Gawlee Natallie... (and "American" too) 18:56  |  JES 07/01/08
      21.   #11 - Answer for Michael 18:58  |  JES 07/01/08
      22.   Next Time Iran Your Going To Short A Few Ships 18:58  |  Kipperraes 07/01/08
      23.   "Fiddler Navy, pre dawn attack"! cut-print- 18:59  |  Stephen. 07/01/08
      24.   Iranian provocation 19:06  |  David Israel 07/01/08
      25.   To Popadoo and Natallie Boohoo 19:08  |  Yossi 07/01/08
      26.   Remembering the Vincennes and WMD 19:08  |  Mark Lincoln 07/01/08
      27.   Why all the wonder Natalie? 19:09  |  Jacob Blues 07/01/08
      28.   Dangerous Games 19:09  |  Mark of Lewiston 07/01/08
      29.   For John # 8 19:21  |  Clickfool 07/01/08
      30.   Ballistic on Vietnam, USA stopped spread of communism 19:22  |  Johnny 07/01/08
      31.   to anit racist,actually i don`t like backstabbing bi88hes,but you 19:26  |  terrornator 07/01/08
      32.   Clickfool 19:48  |  Allon 07/01/08
      33.   #30 19:53  |  Sakura One 07/01/08
      34.   IDF Generalsstock dump 19:55  |  Scoobidoo 07/01/08
      35.   clickfool # 29 all this talk about "world policemen" 20:01  |  terrornator 07/01/08
      36.   #1, 2 & 3 20:06  |  Nik "Banned" Miller 07/01/08
      37.   Johnny from Sweden - Right Said! Thank You. 20:09  |  MIKE 07/01/08
      38.   Thank God that both sides have used restraint 20:19  |  sharon 07/01/08
      39.   Remembering America`s capacity to lie through its teeth 20:20  |  Clickfool 07/01/08
      40.   #8 John 20:24  |  Franco 07/01/08
      41.   US - Protector of the Seas 20:24  |  Reid 07/01/08
      42.   #9 American 20:29  |  Franco 07/01/08
      43.   For Terrornator # 35 20:30  |  Clickfool 07/01/08
      44.   Nalallie & POP 20:31  |  leo 07/01/08
      45.   Clickfool 20:34  |  leo 07/01/08
      46.   clickfool # 43 when america does all that,then bitch!we have a 20:40  |  terrornator 07/01/08
      47.   Propably internal message from Revolutionary Guard 20:41  |  Mark B. 07/01/08
      48.   Let`s talk About the Vincennes 20:55  |  MIKE 07/01/08
      49.   # 17 anti-racist....when one needs to use 20:56  |  Lynn 07/01/08
      50.   Clickfool # 43 20:58  |  Mark B. 07/01/08
      51.   # 27 Jacob Blues ...and the Soviet sub in NY 20:58  |  Lynn 07/01/08
      52.   For Allon, posting from a parallel universe # 32 20:59  |  Clickfool 07/01/08
      53.   Bush advisors 21:00  |  Dav 07/01/08
      54.   For Leo # 45 21:05  |  Clickfool 07/01/08
      55.   Johnny of Stockholm...the Vietnamese 21:07  |  Lynn 07/01/08
      56.   #48 Mike 21:09  |  Franco 07/01/08
      57.   #48 Mike 21:09  |  Sarah 07/01/08
      58.   iranian are more than capable 21:10  |  samir salameh 07/01/08
      59.   #39 Clickfool 21:13  |  Sarah 07/01/08
      60.   I`m amazed how unpatriotic the Americans are 21:17  |  Jasmine Murphy 07/01/08
      61.   USS Vincennes-Natalie 21:18  |  Jeff 07/01/08
      62.   we make miss steak 21:24  |  a secret pasdaran 07/01/08
      63.   Mark Lincoln 21:29  |  Sarah 07/01/08
      64.   Remedial reading 21:39  |  Natallie Durson 07/01/08
      65.   IRGC suggesting readiness for sea mining the Strait of Hormoz. 21:42  |  avigdor 07/01/08
      66.   norman finklestein to nasrallah"i love you" 21:49  |  haim 07/01/08
      67.   Jasmine Murphy .. The meaning of patriotism 21:53  |  Natallie Durson 07/01/08
      68.   For Sarah # 49 21:55  |  Clickfool 07/01/08
      69.   For Jeff # 51 21:58  |  Clickfool 07/01/08
      70.   jasmine murphy,take another look,most of the pricks calling them 21:59  |  terrornator 07/01/08
      71.   Why no precise transcript? 22:10  |  Pablo B