A US Navy ship has fired warning shots at an Iranian Revolutionary Guard vessel in the Gulf, US officials say. It happened at around 03:00 local time (00:00 GMT), as the Iranian ship began to approach the USS Thunderbolt.
A US defence official said the boat came within 450ft (137m), and ignored radio calls and the ship's whistle. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard is a paramilitary force that answers directly to Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
"The IRGCN boat was coming in at a high rate of speed. It did not respond to any signals, they did not respond to any bridge-to-bridge calls, they felt there was no choice except to fire the warning shots," the official told AFP news agency.
The Iranian ship stopped after the warning shots, and the Thunderbolt - accompanied by several US Coast Guard vessels - continued on its way.
The USS Thunderbolt is a Cyclone class patrol ship. and has been based in bahrain since 2013.
source: commonspace.eu with BBC
photo: USS Thunderbolt on patrol in the Gulf (archive picture)
