Iranian Boats Threaten US Navy

Tensions rose in the Straight of Hormuz yesterday as Iranian gunboats threatened US warships patrolling the area. A Pentagon official stated that the 5 Iranian fast boats were within seconds of being blown up after ignoring US warnings they were too close.

The Iranian boats also exhibited threatening behavior and radioed to the US ships, "I am coming at you. You will blow up in a couple of minutes."(source)

Prepare to fire orders had been given to defensive crews on the American ships, who had taken evasive maneuvers because of the Iranian threats.

One Iranian boat came within 200 yards of an American ship, an extremely close distance considering the tensions that exist between the two nations in the strategically vital area. "Yesterday the Revolutionary Guard demonstrated their capacity to act irresponsibly and, in my estimation, well out of the ordinary norms of what we would expect," Vice Adm. Kevin Cosgriff said in response to Iran's account of Sunday's incident. "So hopefully, they've learned from this that we're serious."(id)

"Subsequently, two of these boats were observed dropping objects in the water, generally in the path of the final ship in the formation, the USS Ingraham," Vice Adm. Cosgriff added. "These objects were white, box-like objects that floated. And, obviously, the ship passed by them safely."(source)

Tensions are high, and have long been so between the US and Iran in the Persian Gulf. Those tensions may be exacerbated by President Bush's planned visit to Israel in the coming days. Al Qaida has similarly warned Bush that he faces danger during his visit.