Iran Plays down Ordinary Incident with US Warships

TEHRAN (FNA) Iran played down an incident between Iranian forces and US naval ships in the Strait of Hormuz, describing the event as an “ordinary occurrence” that ended without any disturbance.

“This is an ordinary occurrence which happens every now and then for both sides,” Foreign Ministry Spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini told FNA of the incident.

When such incidents take place, he said “the issue is resolved after both sides recognize each other.”

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps confirmed that their naval forces were involved in the incident with US naval ships but said “nothing out of the ordinary” took place.

“Nothing out of the ordinary happened between IRGC’s patrol forces and the US boats in the international waters in the Strait of Hormuz,” an informed source in the IRGC’s naval force told FNA.

The source also said that the incident took place at “7:40 am yesterday” (0410 GMT on Sunday).

“IRGC’s naval vessels were patrolling the Straits of Hormuz and patrolling the incoming and outgoing vessels into the Persian Gulf,” the source added.

“Three American warships were entering regional waters and as usual they were identified and questioned.

“The American boats, just as in the past, introduced themselves and gave the (identification) number of their boats and continued on their way without any unusual occurrence.”