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Illustrative: In this photo from the US Navy provided on November 19, 2019, the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, left, the air-defense destroyer HMS Defender and the guided-missile destroyer USS Farragut transit the Strait of Hormuz with the guided-missile cruiser USS Leyte Gulf. (Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Zachary Pearson/U.S. Navy via AP)
WASHINGTON A US vessel fired warning shots at more than a dozen Iranian fast attack boats which buzzed close to a US Navy submarine and escort ships in the narrow Strait of Hormuz on Monday, the Pentagon said.
In the second such incident in two weeks, 13 Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy boats approached the seven US vessels at high speeds, closing within 150 yards (140 meters) before one of the US vessels fired 30 shots in two volleys, until they moved away, said Pentagon spokesman John Kirby.
By Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart
WASHINGTON, May 10 (Reuters) - A U.S. Coast Guard ship fired about 30 warning shots after 13 vessels from Iran s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN) came close to it and other American Navy vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, the Pentagon said on Monday.
This is the second time within the last month that U.S. military vessels have had to fire warning shots because of what they said was unsafe behavior by Iranian vessels in the region, after a relative lull in such interactions over the past year.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the warning shots were fired after the Iranian fast boats came as close as 150 yards (450 feet) of six U.S. military vessels, including the USS Monterey, that were escorting the guided-missile submarine Georgia.
Coast Guard Cutter Fires Warning Shots at Charging Iranian Speedboats
The Island-class patrol boat USCGC Maui navigates through the Arabian Gulf, Jan. 1, 2019. (U.S. Army/Spc. Meleesa Gutierrez)
10 May 2021
A U.S. Coast Guard cutter fired warning shots from its .50-caliber machine gun at a large group of armed Iranian speedboats that were quickly approaching American ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz on Monday morning.
In a briefing with reporters, Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said that the group of 13 fast boats were part of Iran s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy, or IRGCN. He called the encounter significant.
The boats conducted unsafe and unprofessional maneuvers, and failed to exercise due regard for the safety of U.S. forces as required under international law, while operating in close proximity to U.S. naval vessels that were transiting the Strait of Hormuz, Kirby said.