US: Recent Iranian Actions in Persian Gulf Increase Tensions

Following recent actions by Revolutionary Guard speedboats approaching US ships in the Persian Gulf, Elizabeth Trudeau, spokesperson for the US State Department, said such conduct is concerning and unnecessarily escalates tensions.

The US Defense Department, the Pentagon, announced that on Wednesday, following an Iranian Revolutionary Guard speedboat approaching two US patrol ships and a Kuwaiti vessel in the Persian Gulf, the USS Squall fired three warning shots using a .50-caliber machine gun in its direction.

This is the second incident in recent days, and the Pentagon said on Wednesday that four Iranian boats harassed the US destroyer USS Nitze on Tuesday at the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz.

The US State Department spokesperson said at a press conference on Thursday: “We consider these actions dangerous and unprofessional.”

Elizabeth Trudeau added: “We are unaware of the intent behind Iranian vessels’ actions, but since our ships have been in international waters, we consider such behavior unacceptable.”

The US State Department spokesperson emphasized: “We believe these types of actions are concerning and unnecessarily escalate tensions.”

At this press briefing, Ms. Trudeau also expressed a lack of knowledge about whether these concerns have been raised with Iran through diplomatic channels in response to these two incidents.

While the US State Department spokesperson describes recent actions as “unacceptable,” Hossein Dehqan, Iran’s defense minister, alluded on Thursday to accusing an American destroyer of entering Iranian waters.

Mr. Dehqan said: “The monitoring of Iranian naval units over the passage of foreign vessels in the Persian Gulf naturally takes place in our territorial waters.”

Source: Radio Farda