US destroyer fires warning shots at Iranian vessels

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON

A U.S. guided-missile destroyer fired warning shots at four Iranian vessels as they approached it in the Strait of Hormuz, a U.S. defense official confirmed to Anadolu Agency on Monday.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps naval ships sailed toward the USS Mahan at fast speeds with their weapons manned on Sunday, according to the official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

The Iranian vessels ignored successive audio warnings, a siren alert and the ship’s whistle during what the official called an “unsafe and unprofessional” interaction. The vessels closed to within 900 yards of the Mahan, the official confirmed.

They halted only after the Mahan fired warning shots from an onboard .50 caliber machine gun.

The destroyer was conducting “normal operations” at the time of the incident, the official said.

It is the latest in a string of close calls between U.S. and Iranian ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

In August, a U.S. vessel fired warning shots in a similar showdown, and an Iranian vessel trained its weapon on a U.S. helicopter there in November.

President-elect Donald Trump, who will be sworn-in on Jan. 20, has warned that Iranian vessels that inappropriately approach U.S. vessels “will be shot out of the water” after he assumes office.

The Strait of Hormuz separates Iran and Oman. Roughly 35 percent of the world’s seaborne oil shipments pass through the strait daily.