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Kickin' Ass and Takin' Names
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An alleged threat to blow up US warships "may not have come" from
Iranian speedboats involved in a recent stand-off, the BBC has
learned.
The voice on a Pentagon tape could instead have come from another ship
in the area or a transmitter on land, senior US Navy sources told the
BBC.
The US has sent Iran a formal protest over Sunday's stand-off in the
Strait of Hormuz.
Iran has accused the US of faking its video of the incident.
Conflicting accounts
Iranian state-run TV has broadcast a separate video of the stand-off,
in which there is no sign of threatening behaviour by the Iranian
patrols, thought to belong to the Revolutionary Guards. But the four-
minute clip does not appear to show the whole incident.
The US military said video and audio that it released confirmed its
allegation that Iranian speedboats harassed US warships and threatened
to blow them up in a radio communication.
"I am coming at you. You will explode in a couple of minutes," the
Iranians said in a radio transmission, according to US officials.
Pentagon officials said the speedboats came within about 200m (650ft)
of the US vessels.
US officials have described the actions of the speed boats as
dangerous and provocative.
US sailors assumed battle stations and the captain on one of the ships
was about to order an attack when the Iranian boats turned away, they
said.
On Wednesday the US lodged a formal diplomatic complaint with the
Iranian foreign ministry through the Swiss embassy in Tehran.
Doubts
The New York Times noted on Wednesday that the US-released audio
includes no ambient noise of the kind that might be expected if the
broadcast had come from on one of the speedboats.
Pentagon officials said the voice heard in the video clip is not
directly traceable to the Iranian military, but could still have come
from a high quality radio on one of the small boats, the paper
reported.
Iran described the incident as a routine contact which happens all the
time in the crowded waters of the Gulf.
The Pentagon has insisted that the three US vessels - identified as
navy cruiser USS Port Royal, destroyer USS Hopper and frigate USS
Ingraham - were in international waters.
The confrontation has further inflamed tensions between arch-foes Iran
and the United States.
US President George W Bush is currently on a tour of the Middle East
which will tackle what the Americans see as the threat posed by Iran
to regional stability.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7181929.stm
Iranian speedboats involved in a recent stand-off, the BBC has
learned.
The voice on a Pentagon tape could instead have come from another ship
in the area or a transmitter on land, senior US Navy sources told the
BBC.
The US has sent Iran a formal protest over Sunday's stand-off in the
Strait of Hormuz.
Iran has accused the US of faking its video of the incident.
Conflicting accounts
Iranian state-run TV has broadcast a separate video of the stand-off,
in which there is no sign of threatening behaviour by the Iranian
patrols, thought to belong to the Revolutionary Guards. But the four-
minute clip does not appear to show the whole incident.
The US military said video and audio that it released confirmed its
allegation that Iranian speedboats harassed US warships and threatened
to blow them up in a radio communication.
"I am coming at you. You will explode in a couple of minutes," the
Iranians said in a radio transmission, according to US officials.
Pentagon officials said the speedboats came within about 200m (650ft)
of the US vessels.
US officials have described the actions of the speed boats as
dangerous and provocative.
US sailors assumed battle stations and the captain on one of the ships
was about to order an attack when the Iranian boats turned away, they
said.
On Wednesday the US lodged a formal diplomatic complaint with the
Iranian foreign ministry through the Swiss embassy in Tehran.
Doubts
The New York Times noted on Wednesday that the US-released audio
includes no ambient noise of the kind that might be expected if the
broadcast had come from on one of the speedboats.
Pentagon officials said the voice heard in the video clip is not
directly traceable to the Iranian military, but could still have come
from a high quality radio on one of the small boats, the paper
reported.
Iran described the incident as a routine contact which happens all the
time in the crowded waters of the Gulf.
The Pentagon has insisted that the three US vessels - identified as
navy cruiser USS Port Royal, destroyer USS Hopper and frigate USS
Ingraham - were in international waters.
The confrontation has further inflamed tensions between arch-foes Iran
and the United States.
US President George W Bush is currently on a tour of the Middle East
which will tackle what the Americans see as the threat posed by Iran
to regional stability.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7181929.stm
