Tehran has repeatedly objected to the presence of American warships in the Persian Gulf under the pretext of ensuring the safety of navigation. The Islamic Republic.
To quote the U.S. Navy s official announcement, on May 6 the cruiser USS Monterey seized an illicit shipment of weapons from a stateless dhow in international waters of the North Arabian Sea. The list of weaponry aboard the dhow included advanced Russian-made anti-tank missiles, around 3,000 Chinese assault rifles, several hundred light machine guns, sniper rifles and rocket-propelled grenades launchers and advanced optical sights.
On a battlefield, those weapons set could arm a light infantry brigade of 4,000 soldiers or guerrilla fighters. Stateless is diplo-speak indicating the dhow had no flag or other sign of national origin. It suggests the dhow s crew had no valid cargo papers to show the U.S. Coast Guard Advanced Interdiction Team inspecting their vessel. When USN warships enter sea lanes plied by smugglers and pirates, they often have a Coast Guard team aboard with legal authority to address transnational criminal operations.
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 reportedly said.
The Defense Post reports that 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.
The report as no fewer than 12 people, including a senior army officer, were killed and several others wounded in a roadside ambush in central Burundi, administrative and medical sources said on Monday.