ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The United States and United Kingdom navies thwarted Sunday numerous Iranian fast-attack boats in the Strait of Hormuz who were harassing a commercial ship transiting the narrow strait.
US Navy guided-missile destroyer USS McFaul and UK Royal Navy frigate HMS Lancaster responded to a distress call from a merchant vessel at 4:56 pm on Saturday after three Iranian fast-attack boats with armed personnel approached the ship and began following it from a close distance, according to the Bahrain-based US 5th Fleet.
“The fast-attacked craft were assessed to be from the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy,” the statement said.
The Iranian boats departed and stopped pursuing the commercial ship afterwards.
Altercations between Iranian and American forces in and around the Persian Gulf are common as the area has been the site of repeated interceptions and seizures of Iranian weapons and supplies that Washington says are destined for Houthi rebels in Yemen.
In April, Iran said that its navy forced a US submarine to surface as it crossed the Strait of Hormuz and traverse the strait on the surface.
However, the Bahrain-based American fleet rejected Tehran’s claims, calling them “absolutely false.”
The US navy in May announced it was bolstering its presence in the Persian Gulf, increasing the rotation of ships and aircrafts patrolling the vital corridor of the Strait of Hormuz to deter Iran. The navy at the time said that Iran has harassed or attacked 15 internationally flagged ships in the past two years.
The Strait of Hormuz is a vital waterway linking the Persian Gulf with the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean. About a fifth of global oil supplies pass through the strait daily.
In January 2022, the US seized a “stateless” vessel transiting from Iran in the Gulf of Oman carrying explosive materials. The ship was stopped among a route infamously used to smuggle weapons to the Houthis.
In December, Iran’s navy briefly seized two US navy drone vessels in the Red Sea before releasing them the following day.
American and Iranian warships in the Persian Gulf had a tense encounter in April 2021, when an Iranian ship cut in front of the American ship, causing the vessel to stop abruptly.
