A US Navy ship fired warning shots at an armed Iranian patrol boat Friday in the Persian Gulf after being intercepted by Iranian navy, According to a statement issued by Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
The statement says at 4 pm on Friday USS Nimitz aircraft carrier approached the Resalat oil-gas block in the Persian Gulf, intercepted by missile boats of IRGC’s Fourth Marine Corps District.
According to the statement, US navy ship fired warning shots at Iranian boats and a US navy helicopter approached them in a provocative action.
The statement says that the Americans, taking a provocative and unprofessional action, fired warning shots at the Zulfiqar navy boats, with the Islamic warriors pursuing their mission in the region regardless of the unusual behavior of the Americans and the accompanying aircraft carrier and battle-cruiser leaving the region.
In a similar incident, The USS Thunderbolt fired warning shots at Iranian navy boats operating in the Persian Gulf on Tuesday. IRGC Third Naval District describe US navy action as “provocative move that was neutralized by IRGC forces”.
“This morning, a US military ship in the north of the Persian Gulf sailed toward an IRGC Navy’s patrol ship, which was patrolling in international waters, and fired two shots into the air for provocation and intimidation,” reads the IRGC statement on Tuesday.
It is not first encounter of Iranian and American navy in the Persian Gulf. In April Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in a sarcastic message questioned the US Navy’s presence in the Persian Gulf, 7,500 miles away from the US territory.
“Breaking: Our Navy operates in – yes, correct – the Persian Gulf, not the Gulf of Mexico,” Iran’s top diplomat said in a tweet.
Breaking: Our Navy operates in —yes, correct— the Persian Gulf, not the Gulf of Mexico. Question is what US Navy doing 7,500 miles from home pic.twitter.com/XfDicbWr5s
— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) April 26, 2017
