Iran downplays incident with US ships

Source: alalam.ir, 7-1-2008
TEHRAN -Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini on
Monday played down an incident between Iranian forces and US naval ships in the Strait of Hormuz, describing the event as an "ordinary occurrence."
In an interview with Alalam, Hosseini said "The incident is an ordinary occurrence taking place every now and then for both sides."
When such incidents take place, he said, "The issue is resolved after both sides recognize each other".
He recalled that the case had happened in the past too and finalized as the two parts identified each other.
Hosseini said, "The case happening on Saturday was similar to the past ones and it was a regular and natural issue."
Some western media on Monday quoted US officials as claiming that five Iranian speedboats swarmed three US navy ships at the Strait of Hormuz.
The US officials also baselessly claimed that during the incident warnings had been exchanged between the two sides.
According to some Iranian military officials, the US warships came close to the Iranian territorial waters in the Strait of Hormuz where they were surprised by Iranian naval forces' readiness which made them to retreat.
The media propaganda over the incident aims at exploiting it in favor of upcoming visit by US president George Bush to the Middle East, as well as winning some points ahead of the next US presidential election, they added.
They said that Bush who is going to visit some Arab countries, seeks to convince them over US forces' presence in the region.