American and Iranian warships had close encounters earlier this month in the Persian Gulf, according to the US Navy. The Navy on Tuesday released footage of one of the encounters.
On April 2, a ship sailed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) cut in front of the USCGC Monomoy, causing it to pull up short. In a second incident, an IRGC vessel passed close to the USCGC Wrangell. Both incidents, during which the US crews issued warnings and conducted defensive maneuvers, could have led to collisions. There were no injuries or damage.
They are the first such incidents in more than a year. They came as Iran and the US entered into indirect negotiations in Vienna over the revival of the nuclear deal that Iran signed with the world powers in 2015 and that the US under President Donald Trump left in 2018.