A Navy warship fired a warning flare Monday after Iranian speed boats came within 50 yards of it in the Strait of Hormuz, officials with U.S. Naval Force Central Command said.
The USS Sirocco, a Cyclone-class patrol ship, and the cargo transport ship USNS Choctaw were conducting what Navy officials said was a “routine transit in international waters” when three they were approached by three fast inshore attack craft operated by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN).
One of the IRGCN patrol boats approached the Sirocco head-on at a “dangerously high speed” and veered away only when the Navy ship sounded warning signals to avoid a collision.