WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Eleven vessels from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN) came dangerously close to U.S. military ships in the Gulf, the U.S. military said on Wednesday, calling the moves “dangerous and provocative.”
The U.S. military said in a statement the Iranian ships approached six U.S. military ships while they were conducting integration operations with Army helicopters in international waters. At one point, the Iranian vessels came as close at 10 yards to the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Maui.
The U.S. ships issued multiple warnings through bridge-to-bridge radio, blasts from the ships’ horns and long range acoustic noise maker devices. The Iranian ships left after about an hour, the statement added.
(Reporting by Idrees Ali; Editing by Chris Reese)
