Military & Nuclear

Iranian ships swarmed U.S. Coast Guard vessels in ‘unsafe’ maneuvers, says U.S. Navy

Tehran did not immediately acknowledge the incident in the southern reaches of the Persian Gulf, which resulted in no injuries or damage.

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April 27, 2021, 3:51 AM PDT
By Dan De Luce
WASHINGTON — A group of Iranian vessels from the country’s Revolutionary Guard Corps harassed two U.S. Coast Guard ships over three hours in the Persian Gulf earlier this month, repeatedly crossing in front of the bows of the American ships at close range, the U.S. Navy said Tuesday,

It was the first such incident in a year and the encounter on April 2 came just as the U.S. and Iran had committed to starting negotiations on reviving the 2015 nuclear agreement between Tehran and world powers.

Three Iranian fast-attack boats and one larger ship, a 180-foot, twin-hulled vessel called the Harth 55, approached and swarmed the Coast Guard ships at close distances. The larger Iranian ship repeatedly crossed in front of the two Coast Guard vessels “at an unnecessarily close range,” coming within 70 yards, according to a statement from the Navy’s Fifth Fleet in Bahrain.