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| Tense! Meets Iranian Fast Ship, US Warship Fires Warning Beacon |
International Military - The United States (US) Navy said Tuesday (21/6/2022) that its forces had a tense encounter with Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guards, the IRGC, in the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
The US Navy's 5th Fleet, based in the Middle East, said three escort ships encountered an unsafe and unprofessional encounter when the USS Sirocco and USNS Choctaw County transited through the strait, the narrow mouth of the Arabian Gulf, on Monday.
The US Navy said one of Iran's three Revolutionary Guards speedboats raced head-on at the Sirocco before changing course. The US Navy said the Sirocco also fired warning flares during the encounter.
A short video released by the US Navy shows the encounter as reported by Al Arabiya. Iran did not immediately acknowledge the incident in the strait, through which a fifth of all world oil trade passes.
The incident comes as tensions remain high in the Middle East region as the fate of Iran's nuclear deal with world powers remains unclear as negotiations over the deal have stalled. Meanwhile, Tehran's atomic program of enriching uranium at levels closest to weapons levels continues.
Indirect talks between Tehran and Washington to revive the 2015 nuclear deal have stalled since March and Tehran has limited the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) ability to monitor Iran's nuclear program after a row with the UN watchdog.
A 2015 deal with world powers gave Iran relief from sanctions in exchange for guarantees that it cannot develop nuclear weapons, something Tehran has always denied.
The United States unilaterally withdrew from the nuclear deal in 2018 under then-president Donald Trump, before imposing biting sanctions on the Islamic republic. Iran in turn began to renege on its own commitments. US President Joe Biden has said he is ready to re-embrace the deal as long as Iran also honors its own promises under it.