On Tuesday, four Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) boats approached the USS Nitze near the Strait of Hormuz, two of the vessels slowing and turning course only after coming within 300 yards of the U.S. guided-missile destroyer, a U.S. Navy official told Reuters and CNN on Wednesday night. The vessels harassed the U.S. warship by "conducting a high speed intercept and closing within a short distance of Nitze, despite repeated warnings," the official said. "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 Nitze tried to contact the Iranian vessels 12 times but received no reply, and fired 10 flares, among other warning signals, the official said. The ship and U.S. officials have determined that the Iranians violated the 1972 Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, and the U.S would lodge a diplomatic complaint if Iran and the U.S. had diplomatic relations. "For four decades the Revolutionary Guard have been told that America is the greatest threat to the Islamic Revolution," Karim Sadjadpour at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace told Reuters. "This institutional culture hasn't changed after the nuclear deal." You can learn more, and see footage of the close encounter, in Elise Labott's report on CNN below. Peter Weber
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Today's political cartoons - December 22, 2024Cartoons Sunday's cartoons - the long and short of it, trigger finger, and more
-
5 hilariously spirited cartoons about the spirit of ChristmasCartoons Artists take on excuses, pardons, and more
-
Inside the house of AssadThe Explainer Bashar al-Assad and his father, Hafez, ruled Syria for more than half a century but how did one family achieve and maintain power?
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstancesSpeed Read
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2Speed Read
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governorSpeed Read
-
Los Angeles city workers stage 1-day walkout over labor conditionsSpeed Read
-
Mega Millions jackpot climbs to an estimated $1.55 billionSpeed Read
-
Bangladesh dealing with worst dengue fever outbreak on recordSpeed Read
-
Glacial outburst flooding in Juneau destroys homesSpeed Read
-
Scotland seeking 'monster hunters' to search for fabled Loch Ness creatureSpeed Read
