The guided-missile destroyer USS Mahan fired three warning shots at four Iranian fast attack boats in the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend, the U.S. Navy said Monday.
The small boats were armed and considered a potential threat to the Mahan, which was escorting the amphibious assault vessel USS Makin Island and the replenishment oiler USNS Walter Diehl. Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, said the boats were speeding toward the U.S. destroyer with weapons drawn.
Navy officials says the U.S. warship was conducting a nighttime transit of the strait at the time, and went through a series of standard procedures to warn the Iran “cigarette” boats away, including establishing radio communication, but they ignored both blasts from the Mahan’s horn and prerecorded announcements in Farsi.
As the Iranian boats were closing within 900 yards, the Mahan fired three warning shots from its .50-caliber machine guns, and the Iranian boats broke off.
Davis said the actions were “unsafe and unprofessional,” but also noted that it is somewhat out of character for the current relationship between Iran and the U.S.
Iran had 23 unsafe and unprofessional incidents with the U.S. in 2015 and 35 last year, but the majority of those in 2016 happened in the first half of the year, Davis said.
The last incident was on Aug. 24, when a U.S. coastal patrol boat fired warning shots into the water after a confrontation with Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps boats.
Jacqueline Klimas contributed to this report.
