Fox News reported Wednesday that an Iranian Revolutionary Guards battle ship was approaching a US Navy's destroyer in the Persian Gulf at high speed eventually forcing the Americans to deviate from their course.
Two US officials told Fox News that the Iranian ship, whose personnel were manning firing positions, approached to within a kilometer of the American destroyer Mahan. The Americans fired warning flares, blared warning sirens, and even manned the firing positions, and eventually strayed to avoid collision.
About four months ago, an American destroyer was involved in a similar incident in the Strait of Hormuz and fired three warning shots after Iranian ships did not adhere to the warnings and continued to approach them.
"Such high-speed approaches and manning of the firing positions, despite warnings from the destroyer, are clearly provocative behavior," one of the officials said of the Iranians. The Iranian ship did not fire warning shots.
According to the US military, Iranian ships were involved in 35 incidents of "unprofessional" behavior last year —a 50 percent leap from the previous year.
(Translated and edited by N. Elias)