A U.S. Navy video obtained by USNI News shows the moment four Iranian Revolutionary Guard patrol boats approached the guided-missile destroyer USS Nitz earlier this week in international waters in the Strait of Hormuz. The video was filmed August 23.
A U.S. Navy official called the maneuvers of the boats “unsafe and unprofessional.”
“The Iranian high rate of closure…created a dangerous, harassing situation that could have led to further escalation including additional defensive measures by Nitze,” the official said, according to Reuters.
The White House said Thursday that the intentions of Iranian boats are unclear, saying “the behavior is not acceptable, given that this U.S. ship was in international waters.”
During the encounter the boats came within 300 yards of the destroyer.
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Attacks on tankers sailing through the Strait of Hormuz hit their highest last week of any week since the Iran war began, according to maritime security sources tracking incidents, amid a bigger export push by Gulf producers.
Qatar has amassed a fleet of empty liquefied natural gas tankers in the Persian Gulf, a sign that one of the world’s biggest exporters of the fuel may be preparing to boost shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.
The US blockade of Iran is keeping dozens of laden tankers bottled up along the nation’s coast, while others outside the Persian Gulf are holding off Sri Lanka, according to United Against Nuclear Iran.
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