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Thursday, August 25, 2016

Iran: Forces Will Warn Any Vessel After US Warship Incident

This still image made from video broadcast on Iranian State television, friday, Jan. 29, 2016 shows what purports to be drone footage of a U.S. aircraft carrier. Iran flew a surveillance drone over a U.S. aircraft carrier and took "precise" photographs of it as part of an ongoing naval drill, state media reported Friday. The U.S. Navy said an unarmed Iranian drone flew near a French and American carrier earlier this month, but couldn't confirm it was the same incident.(Iranian State Television via AP) IRAN OUT

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Iran’s naval forces will warn or confront any foreign ship entering the country’s territorial waters, the Iranian defense minister said Thursday, remarks that came after an incident this week involving a U.S. warship.

The semi-official Tasnim news agency quoted Gen. Hosein Dehghan as saying that “if any foreign vessel enters our waters, we warn them, and if it’s an invasion, we confront.” He added that Iranian boats patrol to monitor traffic and foreign vessels in its territorial waters.

Dehghan’s comments came after four Iranian small boats sailed near the guided missile destroyer USS Nitze on Wednesday in the Persian Gulf. The U.S. Navy described the incident as “unsafe and unprofessional” and said it occurred in international waters in the narrow Strait of Hormuz.

U.S. Navy video of the incident obtained by The Associated Press shows American sailors on the Nitze firing flares and sounding the warship’s horn as the Iranian boats approached.

Earlier, U.S. Adm. John Richardson said the incident involving the Nitze reflects the greater competition the U.S. is facing at sea and underscores the naval tensions with Tehran, which include other similar incidents.

In January, Iran briefly detained 10 U.S. Navy sailors who mistakenly steered into Iranian waters.

Last December, Iranian ships fired rockets near U.S. warship and other vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, and a month later flew an unarmed drone over the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf.

 

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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