U.S. Manned Guns And Were "Very Close" To Firing On Iranian Ships - Video Inside

[Gold9472]

US manned guns and were 'very close' to firing on Iranian ships

http://rawstory.com/news/2007/US_man...very_0107.html

Published: Monday January 7, 2008

US Navy warships over the weekend came "very close" to shooting at an Iranian Revolutionary Guard vessel, which American officials say provoked US ships in international waters, according to CNN.

"US officials are confirming to CNN that five Iranian Revolutionary guard boats, in their words, 'harassed and provoked' three US Navy warships sailing in the Strait of Hormuz," reports CNN's Barbara Starr. "One of those Iranian boats came within 200 yards of a Navy warship."

The Iranian boats had also transmitted threats via radio, according to officials.

"According to the sources we have spoken to," Starr continued, "the Iranians made threatening moves and threatening radio transmissions. One of those transmissions was...'I am coming at you, you will explode in a couple of minutes.'"

According to the CNN website, "one of the Iranian ships had been dropping white boxes into the water in front of the US ships."

Following the radio transmission, a Navy ship had prepared to fire on an Iranian vessel.

"This official also tells CNN that when that radio transmission was heard, the Navy went to manning its positions, its gun positions on those ships," Starr reports, "and that they were very close to shooting at one of the Iranian boats. In fact the were ready to shoot, the orders had been given when the Iranians suddenly turned away."

No shots were fired, and there were no injuries.

"It is the most serious provocation of this sort that we've seen yet," an unnamed Pentagon official told the Associated Press. He added that the Iranian boats turned away "literally at the very moment that US forces were preparing to open fire."

AP reports the incident occurred about 5 a.m. local time Sunday as a US Navy cruiser, destroyer and frigate were transiting the strait on their way into the Persian Gulf.

"Five small boats were acting in a very aggressive way, charging the ships, dropping boxes in the water in front of the ships and causing our ships to take evasive maneuvers," the Pentagon official said.

Iranian Revolutionary Guard sailors last March captured 15 British sailors and held them for nearly two weeks.

The 15 sailors from HMS Cornwall, including one woman, were captured on March 23. Iran claims the crew, operating in a small patrol craft, had intruded into Iranian waters — a claim denied by Britain.

Video At Source

[Gold9472]

Iran 'did not harass US warships'

http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id...onid=351020101

Mon, 07 Jan 2008 21:09:36

An Iranian official has dismissed Washington's claims that IRGC speedboats harassed three US navy warships in the Strait of Hormuz.

The US vessels approached the Iranian boats in the Persian Gulf on Sunday, warning they were in the red zone, the official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Press TV on Monday.

He added that the Iranians had asked the warships to identify themselves, as such radio communications are usual between vessels in the Persian Gulf.

Although the Pentagon claimed that US sailors were given orders to open fire on the Iranian boats, the official confirmed no hostile encounter took place.

[AuGmENTor]

Sounds to me like a Gulf of Tonkin incident. But I'm sure they know they have to do a bit better than that to justify another illegal war.

[PhilosophyGenius]

More like keeping Iran in the news since the election is sucking up all the air time.

[AuGmENTor]

Good point sir, good point. I was just starting to forget how evil Iranians were.

[PhilosophyGenius]

The discussion on foriegn policy started shifting towards Pakistan and back towards Iraq.

[Gold9472]

Bush chastises Iran on Gulf intercept
Bush Calls Iran's Confrontation With U.S. Ships in Persian Gulf a 'Provocative Act'

http://www.rawstory.com/news/mochila..._01082008.html

ANNE FLAHERTY
Jan 08, 2008 15:03 EST

President Bush said Tuesday that Iran's confrontation with the U.S. Navy ships in the Persian Gulf was a "provocative act."

"It is a dangerous situation," he said in a White House news conference. "They should not have done it, pure and simple. . . . I don't know what their thinking was, but I'm telling you what my thinking was. I think it was a provocative act."

The top U.S. Navy commander in the area said an Iranian fleet of high-speed boats charged at and threatened to blow up a three-ship U.S. Navy convoy passing near but outside Iranian waters on Monday, as they headed into the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz. The Iranian fleet "maneuvered aggressively" and then vanished as the American ship commanders were preparing to open fire, said Vice Adm. Kevin Cosgriff. No shots were fired.

In Tehran, Iran's Foreign Ministry suggested the Iranian boats had not recognized the U.S. vessels. Spokesman Mohammed Ali Hosseini played down the incident. "That is something normal that takes place every now and then for each party," he told the state news agency IRNA.

But White House press secretary Dana Perino said the incident was hardly routine. "It was not normal behavior," she said. "It was out of the ordinary. It was reckless."

"It's just another point of reference for people in the region who are concerned about the behavior of Iran," Perino said of the skirmish early Sunday local time. But, she said that while Iran will be "part of the discussion" during Bush's travels, "it's certainly not the main reason for the trip."

Said Bush: "My message today to the Iranians is they shouldn't have done what they did."

Bush also said that a recent intelligence assessment on Iran, which determined that Tehran had halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003, sent a "mixed signal" to the international community on U.S. policy.

"Iran was a threat. Iran is a threat. And Iran will continue to be a threat if they are allowed to learn how to enrich uranium," he said.

The incident came as Bush got ready to leave Tuesday evening on an eight-day Mideast trip designed in part to counter Iran's influence in the region. Bush is expected to discuss the U.S. posture toward Tehran with Arab allies also worried about Tehran's desire for greater regional power.

[Gold9472]

Rice warns Iran against 'provocations'

http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Rice_wa..._01082008.html

Published: Tuesday January 8, 2008

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned Tehran in an interview published on Tuesday that it should cease its "provocations" after Iranian vessels confronted US warships in the Gulf.

"Iran should not engage in such provocations," Rice said in an interview to the Jerusalem Post and the Ynet website in Israel after Washington said armed Iranian speedboats had threatened three US warships in the Strait of Hormuz.

"That's what it was and it needs to stop. The US is going to defend its interests. It's going to defend its allies," Rice was quoted as saying.

Iran is "the single greatest threat to the kind of Middle East we all want to see," she added.

The weekend incident, in which the Iranian boats radioed a threat to blow up the US ships, according to US officials, sent tensions rising ahead of the US President George W. Bush's visit to the region.

"It was provocative, and that kind of provocation is dangerous," Rice also told the BBC's Arabic service. "I would sincerely hope that the Iranians would refrain from any such activity."

The Strait of Hormuz is a crucial energy supply route, with about 20-25 percent of the world's crude oil passing through from Gulf oil producers.

The US Fifth Fleet is based in Bahrain and US Navy officials say about three dozen US and coalition warships are in the region at any one time. The aircraft carrier USS Harry Truman currently is in the Gulf.

"The United States under this president has sent a very strong signal that America has strong interests in the Gulf, that the United States will continue to defend its interests in the Gulf, and this goes back for decades," Rice told the BBC.

[Gold9472]

Recordings show Persian Gulf incident
Recordings Show Iranian Boats Confronting 3 US Warships in Persian Gulf

http://www.rawstory.com/news/mochila..._01082008.html

LOLITA C. BALDOR
Jan 08, 2008 16:43 EST

Small Iranian fast boats swarmed around U.S. warships in the Persian Gulf, and a man speaking heavily accented English threatened, "I am coming to you. ... You will explode after ... minutes," according to a video released Tuesday by the Pentagon.

The Iranian boats appeared to ignore repeated warnings from the U.S. ships, including horn blasts and radio transmissions.

In a four-minute, 20-second video, shot from the bridge of the destroyer USS Hopper, the small boats — including a bright blue one — can be seen racing near the wake the U.S. ships and crossing close to each other.

From the Hopper's bridge, after spotting the approaching Iranian boats, a Navy crew member says over the radio: "This is coalition warship. I am engaged in transit passage in accordance with international law. Intend no harm."

Often uneven and shaky, the video condenses what Navy officials have said was a 20-minute or so clash. It ends with a blank screen, as only the audio of the Navy's final warning can be heard, just after the voice warns that they are coming.

"Inbound small craft: You are approaching a coalition warship operating in international waters. Your identity in unknown; your intentions are unclear," the unidentified crew member says. He then cautions the Iranians that if they do no steer clear they will be "subject to defensive measures."

"Request that you alter course immediately to remain clear," the crew member says.

After a pause, the man with the accent issues a final threat: "You will explode after (indecipherable) minutes."

[simuvac]

Is this really doing it for anyone here?

I expected more from the neocons, if they're going to nuke Iran. But speed boats and broken English? Doesn't really say "nukeable" to me.

I would like to add, however, that I predicted at 911blogger many months ago that the precipitating incident for WWIII (or WWIV, if you're Fox) would happen overseas and not at home. I think it's a better gamble for the neocons to fake some kind of confrontation over there, rather than ignite another false flag attack at home.