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Reports: Iran Denies Confrontation With USS Typhoon in Persian Gulf
Saturday, April 12, 2008
WASHINGTON - Iranian media reported on Friday that there was no encounter
in the central Persian Gulf between a U.S. Navy ship and a small Iranian
high-speed boat in the central Persian Gulf.
A U.S. Navy official earlier reported the USS Typhoon had tried
unsuccessfully to establish radio contact with the Iranian boat after it
came within an estimated 200 yards of the Typhoon on Thursday, outside
Iranian territorial waters. A Navy official said the ship then fired the
flare and continued on its way without incident.Two other similar Iranian
boats in the area did not come as close.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity
of the matter, said there were no signs any boat was armed.
But Iranian English-language Press TV quoted an unnamed official with the
Islamic Revolutionary Guard as denying "any new confrontation" in the
Persian Gulf.
"The Iranian boats approached the U.S. warship in the Persian Gulf for a
routine check," the official was quoted as saying on Press TV.
Meanwhile, the Web site of Iran's Arabic-language Al-Alam TV cited an
unnamed senior Iranian Navy official as saying that "no accident took place
between the Iranian boats and the U.S. ship, but there was a recognition of
the U.S. forces' presence in the Persian Gulf."
This passed in a "normal way ... and according to protocol, and then the
boats left the scene with no accident whatsoever," the Iranian Navy official
said.
This marked at least the second U.S. Navy encounter with an aggressive
Iranian high-speed boat this year. In January, Iranian boats made what the
Navy called provocative moves near a U.S. ship in the Strait of Hormuz.
Reports: Iran Denies Confrontation With USS Typhoon in Persian Gulf
Saturday, April 12, 2008
WASHINGTON - Iranian media reported on Friday that there was no encounter
in the central Persian Gulf between a U.S. Navy ship and a small Iranian
high-speed boat in the central Persian Gulf.
A U.S. Navy official earlier reported the USS Typhoon had tried
unsuccessfully to establish radio contact with the Iranian boat after it
came within an estimated 200 yards of the Typhoon on Thursday, outside
Iranian territorial waters. A Navy official said the ship then fired the
flare and continued on its way without incident.Two other similar Iranian
boats in the area did not come as close.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity
of the matter, said there were no signs any boat was armed.
But Iranian English-language Press TV quoted an unnamed official with the
Islamic Revolutionary Guard as denying "any new confrontation" in the
Persian Gulf.
"The Iranian boats approached the U.S. warship in the Persian Gulf for a
routine check," the official was quoted as saying on Press TV.
Meanwhile, the Web site of Iran's Arabic-language Al-Alam TV cited an
unnamed senior Iranian Navy official as saying that "no accident took place
between the Iranian boats and the U.S. ship, but there was a recognition of
the U.S. forces' presence in the Persian Gulf."
This passed in a "normal way ... and according to protocol, and then the
boats left the scene with no accident whatsoever," the Iranian Navy official
said.
This marked at least the second U.S. Navy encounter with an aggressive
Iranian high-speed boat this year. In January, Iranian boats made what the
Navy called provocative moves near a U.S. ship in the Strait of Hormuz.
