Eurasia Press & News
TEHRAN (FNA) Five Iranian speedboats warned three US navy ships to keep away from the Islamic Republic’s territorial waters in the strategic Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf over the weekend, US media quoted a Pentagon official as saying on Monday.
According to a CNN report, the Pentagon official confirmed that the US warships were transiting the Strait of Hormuz when they received the threat.
The official, who asked not to be identified, said that no shots were fired during the encounter, which occurred Saturday in international waters adjacent to Iranian borders, but meantime mentioned that the US Captain was on the verge of issuing the required orders for opening fire on Iranian naval vessels patrolling the area.
The speedboats came within a couple hundred meters of the US vessels, the official said.
The Pentagon official would not identify the US navy ships passing through the Strait at the time of the incident.
There was no independent confirmation of the incident and Iranian officials have not yet commented on the report.
Iran has traditionally been responsible for protecting security of the Strait of Hormuz throughout the past centuries as a part of the strait is located inside Iranian borders.
US officials have not yet explained why their warships disturbed tranquility of the very sensitive region by patrolling in an area adjacent to the Iranian borders in the deeply strategic Strait of Hormuz which links the Persian Gulf to the Sea of Oman, the only passage for tankers and trade ships traveling from the Eastern to the Western world.
