US: Iranian ships ‘harassed' warship near key waterway

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON

Four Iranian vessels “harassed” a U.S. Navy warship Tuesday as it sailed near the Strait of Hormuz, the Navy said Thursday.

The Iranian ships ignored repeated warnings as they conducted “a high-speed intercept” of the USS Nitze in international waters, a U.S. defense official told Anadolu Agency in a statement. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

Two of the Iranian vessels closed to “within a short distance” of the Nitze as the ship attempted to make radio contact on 12 separate occasions without receiving a response during the Aug. 23 incident, the official said.

The ships did not respond to the Nitze’s whistle or flare warnings, forcing the Nitze to alter course “away from the approaching Iranian vessels to increase separation and avoid a potential collision despite the fact that Nitze was in close proximity to offshore oil rigs”, the official said.

The Iranian boats closed to within 300 yards of the Nitze before slowing and diverting course, according to the official who described it “as unsafe and unprofessional.

“The Iranian high rate of closure on a United States ship operating in accordance with international law while transiting in international waters along with the disregard of multiple warning attempts created a dangerous, harassing situation that could have led to further escalation including additional defensive measures by Nitze,” the official said.

The USS Mason, also a guided missile destroyer, accompanied the Nitze.

The encounter drew criticism from a host of U.S. agencies, including the State Department that said it was "unprofessional," and that Iran’s behavior was "unacceptable" while U.S. ships were in international waters.

The Pentagon confirmed another similar incident occurred Wednesday that resulted in three shots fired to "warn the Iranian craft away.

"The Iranian craft, as I understand it, left at that point," spokesman Peter Cook said.

He added the department hopes such incidents don't because it serves no purpose other than to raise tensions in an important part of the world, and tensions that we don’t seek to escalate.”

The encounters are the most serious since U.S. sailors were taken into Iranian custody in January after their boat sailed into Iranian waters.

The Strait of Hormuz is a strategic waterway that connects the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman to the Persian Gulf.

Approximately 30 percent of the world’s seaborne-traded oil passes through the strait, according to the Energy Department.