An Iranian boat pointed its weapon at a U.S. Navy helicopter in international waters on Saturday, according to a U.S. defense official.
A Navy MH-60 Seahawk flew within about half a mile of two Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps vessels in the strait, the official said. One of the boats pointed its weapon at the helicopter, prompting the crew to return to the aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower.
“They saw that they had a gun trained on them. At that point, they made the choice to turn back to the ship,” the official said. “They felt it was the smart thing to do.”
The incident was first reported by Reuters.
It’s far from the first conflict between the U.S. and Iran in the region. Four Iranian boats harassed a U.S. destroyer in the Strait of Hormuz in August, coming within 300 yards of the American ship, prompting the USS Nitze to fire flares into the air. In January, Iran detained 10 American sailors overnight on the same night President Obama delivered his final State of the Union address.
Late last year, Iran was conducting live-fire exercises near U.S. warships and several unguided rocks passed within about 1,500 yards of the aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman, the destroyer Bulkeley and a French frigate.
