IRGCN
(Photo: U.S. Navy)



Navy officials reported nearly a dozen small crafts operated by the naval wing of Iran's Revolutionary Guard after they carried out questionable maneuvers close to U.S. warships conducting exercises in the North Arabian Gulf on Wednesday.

According to the U.S. Navy's statement, the vessels repeatedly went around the U.S. warships at dangerously close range and high speeds. They were reportedly less than 50 yards away from the USS Lewis B. and within 10 yards of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter.

The U.S. crews said they issued multiple warnings. These included bridge-to-bridge radio, short blasts from the ships' horns, and acoustic noisemaker devices. They claim that the crew did not receive any response from the people aboard the Iranian speedboats.


The IRGCN vessels eventually responded after an hour, maneuvering away from the U.S. warships.

The Navy called the vessels' actions "dangerous and provocative." They said that the reckless actions of the IRGCN speedboats increased the risk of miscalculation and collision.

The vessels' behavior was also not in accordance with the Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, also called COLREGS. They also violated internationally recognized maritime customs, which obliges vessels to act with due regard for the safety of others in the same area.

U.S. Defense Secretary Mike Pompeo said he and the Pentagon are currently discussing how to best respond to the harassment.

Other Controversies

The harassment came a day after armed Iranian speedboats briefly detained a Hong Kong-flagged chemical tanker in the Gulf of Oman. The crew reportedly boarded the vessel, directing it to Iranian waters. The vessel was released later that day with all of its crew in a safe condition.

Iran has been involved in a series of incidents the previous year.

In June 2019, a U.S. aircraft reportedly saw an IRGCN patrol boat near the motor tanker Altair. The said tanker was one of two oil vessels attacked off the coast of Oman on June 13, 2019.

The crew from a different motor tanker abandoned their ship after discovering probable explosives following an initial blast. The Pentagon's Central Command said an Iranian boat later approached the ship and removed an unexploded mine.

The ship had roughly 44 crew members, with some sustaining minor injuries.

In September 2019, Iran released a British-flagged oil tanker after detaining it for more than two months.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard seized the ship on July 19 and detained its 23 crew members after allegedly violation maritime laws. Iranian authorities released seven crew members on September 4.

British authorities claim the vessel was "unlawfully seized" and is a part of Iran's attempts to interfere with freedom of navigation.

The move came after Britain detained an Iranian oil tanker on suspicions it was transporting oil to Syria, violating sanction imposed by the European Union. The tanker, Gibraltar, was released on August 15 after the Iranian government assured it would not violate the sanctions.

The oil tanker was later photographed near a Syrian port. It was said to be carrying over 2.1 million barrels of crude oil estimated to be worth $130 million.

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