US Ship Fires Warning Shots at ‘Aggressive’ Iranian Vessels
A US Coast Guard ship fired some 30 warning shots in the Strat of Hormuz, after 13 ships belonging to the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Navy sailed too close to it and other US ships in the Strait. The incident reported on Monday is the third time that Iranian vessels have come dangerously close to US ships and the second time that warning shots were fired.
The Iranian boats came within 150 yards of six US military vessels that were escorting the guided-missile submarine Georgia through the strait, the Defense Department said. Pentagon spokesman john Kirby said the Iranian vessels “were acting very aggressively.”
The US and Iran currently are conducting indirect negotiations, as Iran also negotiates with the world powers for a return of both countries to the nuclear deal first signed in 2015.
