Four Iranian patrol boats made an unsafe “high-speed intercept” against a U.S. destroyer near the Strait of Hormuz, CNN reported Wednesday.
Citing a “U.S. Navy official,” CNN said the confrontation involving the USS Nitze on Tuesday was “unsafe and unprofessional.”
There was no reports of casualties or even firing upon one another, but, according to the official, two of the Iranian boats got within 300 yards of the American vessels, well within firing range, before slowing down and turning away.
The Strait of Hormuz links the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea and, according to U.S. government figures, more than one-third of the oil traded via sea passes through it. Iran dominating the entire northern coastline and it regularly threatens to choke off oil-tanker traffic through the narrow strait.
• Victor Morton can be reached at vmorton@washingtontimes.com.
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