Persian Gulf & Middle East Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

Jeff Head

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gCaptain said:
WASHINGTON, Aug 25 (Reuters) – A U.S. Navy ship fired warning shots toward an Iranian fast-attack craft that approached two U.S. ships, a Pentagon spokesman said on Thursday, in the most serious of a number of incidents in the Gulf area this week.

“They did feel compelled ultimately to fire three warning shots and the reason for that is… they had taken steps already to try and de-escalate this situation,” spokesman Peter Cook told reporters.

Tensions have increased in the Gulf in recent days despite an improvement in relations between Iran and the United States.

Years of mutual animosity eased when Washington lifted sanctions on Tehran in January after a deal to curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions but serious differences still remain over Iran’s ballistic missile program, Syria and Iraq.

A U.S. defense official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the USS Squall patrol craft fired three warning shots from a .50 caliber gun in the northern Gulf on Wednesday after warning flares did not work.

The incident started with three Iranian vessels, but there was only one around by the time the warning shots were fired, the official said. He described the Iranian behavior as “unsafe, unprofessional, and not routine.”

At one point, the Iranian vessel came within 200 yards (193 meters) of a U.S. ship, the official said.

Another interaction took place between an Iranian and U.S. ship on Wednesday, the defense official said but gave few more details.

The Pentagon earlier this week
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near the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday.

On Thursday, Iran’s defense minister said those Iranian vessels were just doing their job.

“If an American ship enters Iran’s maritime region, it will definitely get a warning. We will monitor them and, if they violate our waters, we will confront them,” Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan said in a statement reported by the Iranian Students’ News Agency.

A State Department spokeswoman said it was not clear what the intentions of the Iranian ships were, but the behavior was unacceptable.

“We believe that these type of actions are of concern, they unnecessarily escalate tensions,” State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau told a briefing.


The USS Squall is one of the US Navy's Cyclone class Patrol vessels. It is armed with:
They are looking at possibly using the VLS Hell-fire Missiles on the Cyclones to replace the Griffin...but that has not occurred yet.

These are decently armed PAtrol Boats...and would be more than a match for any of these small Iranian PAtrol Boats.

But the Iranians do have some what I would call light frigates with 76mm guns and four longer range missiles too. So they could be put at a disadvantage depending on the vessel they encounter.

Apparently it was escorting a Kuwaiti vessel when the three Iranian patrol boats began harassing them.

Sounds like the Iranians are on the verge of having to learn the lesson of the Preying Mantis again.
 
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Because the escorts weren't meant to deter the Iranian navy. It's there to protect against pirates.
LOL! a good one
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USNI News: Three More U.S. Navy Ships Harassed By Iranian Patrol Boats
Three more U.S. ships were harassed by Iranian patrol boats over three incidents on Wednesday, U.S. 5th Fleet spokesman Cmdr. Bill Urban told USNI News on Thursday.

One of the encounters resulted in a U.S. ship firing warning shots at an Iranian patrol boat with a .50 caliber machine gun to ward off a dangerous approach, according to the service.

Cyclone-class patrol craft USS Tempest (PC-2) and USS Squall (PC-7) were operating in the northern Persian Gulf when three Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN) came at the pair at high speed, Urban said.

The trio crossed Tempest’s bow within 600 yards three times. The IRGCN boats responded to neither bridge-to-bridge hails nor maritime danger signals from the ship’s whistle.

Later the same day an IRGCN Nassar-class patrol craft came within 200 yards of Tempest, coming at the PC head on.

“This situation presented a drastically increased risk of collision, and the Iranian vessel
refused to safely maneuver in accordance with internationally recognized maritime rules of the road, despite several request and warnings via radio, and visual and audible warnings from both U.S. ships,” Urban said.
“During the encounter, Tempest fired three warning flares in the direction of the IRGCN patrol
vessel while also attempting radio communications and sounding loud audible warnings via loudspeaker. Ultimately, Squall resorted to firing three warning shots from their 50-caliber gun, which caused the Iranian vessel to turn away.”

Later on Wednesday, the same Nassar-class boat also made a run at the guided missile destroyer USS Stout (DDG-55), which was also operating in the Persian Gulf. Stout changed course to avoid the IRGCN vessel and used unspecified, “devices to discourage the IRGCN vessel from continuing their approach towards Stout.”

U.S. Naval Forces Central Command universally condemned the incidents in a statement to USNI News.

“The Iranian high rate of speed approaches towards three Unites States ships operating in international waters in accordance with international law along with multiple bow crossings at short range and the disregard of multiple warning attempts created a dangerous, harassing situation that could have led to further escalation,” Urban said.

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between a quartet of IRGCN patrol boats and the guided-missile destroyer USS Nitze (DDG-94).

As the destroyer was exiting the Persian Gulf via the Strait of Hormuz, the four patrol boats closed within 300 yards of the ship ignoring not only radio communications but several flares and warnings from the Nitze’s whistle.

Separate from the regular Iranian Navy, the IRGCN answers directly to the sectarian leadership of Iran and often violates maritime laws and standards, according to both the U.S. and U.K. since 2007 the group has controlled Iran’s coastal defense.

So far, it’s still unclear if the actions this week are part of a coordinated effort from the IRGC or the work of a disgruntled local commander or commanders.
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Jeff Head

General
Registered Member
The Iranians are pushing the envelope strongly.

They calculate that they can get more mileage and maybe more concessions out of this administration before the vote in November and a new admin next January.

Time will tell whether they are calculating properly...but they have clearly forgotten the lesson of the Preying Mantis.
 
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