Iran Vessels Harassed U.S. Destroyer Near Persian Gulf, Navy Says
August 24 2016 - 8:50PM
Dow Jones News
WASHINGTON—Four ships from Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps
harassed a U.S. destroyer near the Persian Gulf in what the U.S.
Navy called an "unsafe and unprofessional" interaction.
The USS Nitze, an Arleigh-Burke class guided-missile destroyer,
was transiting international waters near the Strait of Hormuz on
Tuesday when the four Iranian vessels approached at high speed and
failed to respond to 12 separate radio communications, according to
Cdr. William Urban, a spokesman for the U.S. Fifth Fleet.
The USS Nitze blew its whistle in five short blasts on three
occasions—signaling the Iranian vessels were on a dangerous
course—and fired off 10 flares in the direction of the approaching
ships before altering course to avoid a potential collision, Cmdr.
Urban said.
As two of the Iranian vessels came within 300 yards of the
destroyer, the quartet finally slowed speed and motored away from
the U.S. ship, according to Cmdr. Urban, who characterized the
interaction as a dangerous, harassing situation that could have led
to further escalation. The USS Nitze was transiting the waters with
the USS Mason, another guided-missile destroyer.
The incident was one of many interactions between Iranian and
American ships in and around the Persian Gulf in recent months. But
it was one of few the U.S. Navy has deemed unsafe or
unprofessional.
According to a U.S. defense official, the Navy deemed about 10%
of the hundreds of interactions between Iranian and American ships
unsafe or unprofessional in 2015 and the first half of 2016. The
official said the number of interactions—both safe and unsafe—has
increased this year compared with 2015.
Iranian officials couldn't immediately be reached for
comment.
Write to Paul Sonne at paul.sonne@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 24, 2016 20:35 ET (00:35 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.