Posted on 01/07/2008 11:04:25 AM PST by PreciousLiberty
TEHRAN, Iran - Iran's Foreign Ministry said Monday that a confrontation between Iranian boats and U.S. Navy ships in the Persian Gulf over the weekend was "something normal" and was resolved. It suggested the Iranian boats had not recognized the U.S. vessels.
The Pentagon said that in the incident early Sunday, five small Iranian boats repeatedly "charged" U.S. warships in the Gulf's Hormuz Strait and dropped boxes in the water. The boats warned the U.S. ships that they would set up "explosions," a U.S. Defense Department official said.
The U.S. craft were on the verge of opening fire when the Iranian boats fled, the official said, calling the incidident "the most serious provocation of its sort" in the Gulf. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the record.
But Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammed Ali Hosseini played down the incident, suggesting it was an issue of mistaken identity. He did not comment on the U.S. claims of the Iranian boats' actions.
"That is something normal that takes place every now and then for each party, and it (the problem) is settled after identification of the two parties," he told the state news agency IRNA.
The incident was "similar to past ones" that were resolved "once the two sides recognized each other."
U.S. Navy and Iranian officials have said in the past that vessels from the two rival nations frequently come into contact in the waters of the narrow, heavily trafficked Gulf. They often communicate by radio to avoid incidents.
But the latest incident was the first time U.S. officials have spoken of such a direct threat from Iranian boats.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
The fact that they did NOT say it was a “Victorious confrontation with the Great Satan” tells me something..
Top of the hour CBS Radio news..
2 F-18’s down in Persian Gulf.
Piloted punched out and rescued...
not much more detail...can’t find anything breaking on the net
WTH!!??
Iran has a navy? Oh, yeah, that’s right: those speed boats and skiffs with trolling motors. Well, it was enough to capture a British Royal Navy craft and crew. The US Navy, though, is a different matter altogether.
I KNOW I heard it....still can’t find anything
Twenty years after the USS Stark, and we’re still letting them get away with it.
Weapons Free, and let the bodies hit the seabed!
They have Silkworm anti-ship missiles from North Korea and some sophisticated sea mines. Two of our ships were damaged by their mines during the first Gulf War. They aren’t a significant sea power, but they could be very irritating if they decide to shut down the straights.
They have Silkworm anti-ship missiles from North Korea and some sophisticated sea mines. Two of our ships were damaged by their mines during the first Gulf War. They aren’t a significant sea power, but they could be very irritating if they decide to shut down the straights.
Don't forget the submarines.
Thanks....I was sniffing my soda, thinking Captain Morgan might have stopped by unexpectedly.
That was Iraq. We paid Saddam back for it several times sice then.
what, the north korean seehund?
Boxes!
Boxes!
BOXES !!
Run for your lives !!
(Run? Oh, no, we’re in water, so we’ll blow you up, instead.)
It is going to be “something normal” when we sink your scuzzy muzzie navy too!
LLS
And I have a bridge to sell.
I am reading the Reagan Diary.....and am right where a bunch of stuff is going on JUST LIKE THIS....in 1987.....this “hot spot” needs to be destroyed!
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