Flotilla Tension: 30 US Warning Shots at IRG Military Ships 

By Staff, Agencies 

The Pentagon announced that in the course of close encounter with vessels from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Navy [IRGN] in the Strait of Hormuz off Iran, a US Coast Guard ship fired warning shots.

"Earlier today a large group of IRGN fast boats conducted unsafe and unprofessional maneuvers and failed to exercise due regard for the safety of US forces as required under international law," Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby claimed in a news briefing on Monday.

Kirby said the 13 fast attack boats approached US vessels at "high speed," coming as close as 150 yards [450 feet] to six US Navy vessels that were escorting the guided-missile submarine USS Georgia through the Strait of Hormuz.

He said a US Coast Guard cutter fired around 30 warning shots from a .50 caliber machine gun at the Iranian vessels after other warnings, including radio communication and horn blasts.

After the second round of shots as the boats allegedly came closer to the US fleet, the Iranian vessels left the area, Kirby added. Iranian officials have not commented on the claims.

This latest encounter is the second such incident with IRGN ships reported by the US Navy in the last fortnight.