Eurasia Press & News
TEHRAN (FNA) The United States’ hue and cry about the incident in the Strait of Hormuz serves as a part of Washington’s psychological warfare against Iran, Iranian parliament speaker said in the wake of a wave of western media reports about an alleged confrontation between Iranian and US navy vessels in the Persian Gulf on Saturday.Western media said on Monday that 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.
Pentagon officials said that no shots were fired during the encounter, which occurred Saturday in international waters adjacent to Iranian borders, but meantime pointed out that the US Captain was on the verge of issuing the required orders for opening fire on Iranian naval vessels patrolling the area.
The Iranian parliament speaker reminded that Iran is located next to the Persian Gulf waters and that a part of the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz is within Iranian borders.
“Thus, if anyone should protest against others’ intervention in the Strait of Hormuz, it should be Iran and not the US which has dispatched its warships to the Persian Gulf region from several thousand kilometers away,” Gholam Ali Haddad Adel said.
“We have always demanded establishment of peace and security and the hue and cry made by the US media in this regard is a part of the same psychological warfare they have always launched against Iran,” he added.
Also earlier Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman played down the incident, saying, “This is an ordinary occurrence which happens every now and then for both sides.”
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.
“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.”
Elsewhere during the same press conference, Haddad Adel dismissed US efforts to isolate Iran in the Middle-East region.
“If Mr. Bush is taking the trip to the region in pursuit of this goal, which seems to be the case, he should know that Iran may not be isolated by the adoption of such measures,” the top legislative official underscored when asked to comment on speculations that the visit to the region by US President George W. Bush would be aimed at pushing Iran into isolation.
“This is Iran’s popularity among Muslim nations as well as its justice-seeking and honesty which are a product of Islamic teachings and revolution, and not its wealth, (military) power or political games, which are the secret to Iran’s power and influence on the region,” he reiterated.
The speaker also underlined that as long as the US renders unconditional support to the Zionists’ crimes, such visits to the region by the US president would never produce any long-term fruit for Washington.
He also blasted US hypocrisy in dealing with Iran, saying, “Despite their occasional statements about their inclination for relations with Iran, Americans do not give up belligerency towards Iran and this shows a blatant contradiction in the words and deeds of the Americans.”
