US Navy fires warning shots at Iranian ships in Persian Gulf

Tensions between Iran and the United States continue to boil over after the US levelled further sanctions on Iran after the Islamic Republic successfully launched a satellite into space.

Today’s confrontation in the Persian Gulf wherein a United States Nimitz class aircraft carrier and an accompanying ship  fired warning shots at small Iranian patrol boats, is the second such incident in less than a week.

Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) issued the following statement about the matter,

“With only a few days since a provocative move in the northern end of the Persian Gulf in which the US Navy ships fired warning shots at an Iranian vessel, the American warships have once again taken the same action in the middle of the Persian Gulf.

At 4:00 PM Friday, July 28, US Nimitz-class aircraft carrier accompanied by its warship, while under surveillance by IRGC missile boats, began flying a helicopter over the ‘Resalat’ gas-oil field and approaching IRGC vessels”.

The statement continued,

“The US warships in a provocative and unprofessional move began firing warning shots at the Iranian vessels, to which the IRGC Navy’s ships paid no attention and continued with their mission”.

America’s presence in the Persian Gulf has come under increased scrutiny, especially since Qatar, a traditional US ally seems to want to develop peaceful economic relations with Iran.

Previously, Iran has stated that if the US passes more sanctions on Tehran, something which has now occurred, Iran will request America move its bases inside Iraq further from the Iranian border.