US Ship Fires Warning Shots at Iranian Boats

John Kirby, spokesman for the U.S. Department of Defense, revealed that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's naval forces had engaged in "unsafe harassment" against approximately six U.S. warships in the Strait of Hormuz, prompting one American ship to fire warning shots. Kirby stated that 13 Iranian boats approached rapidly and erratically towards the U.S. warships in the area, including the USS Monterey, a submarine, and other vessels. He explained that the U.S. Navy "acted professionally, issuing a warning to the boats not to approach, and when the boats ignored calls from the control tower on one of the U.S. warships, the Navy was compelled to fire about 30 warning shots into the air, prompting the Iranian boats to retreat." Kirby declined to say that this incident was "directly ordered from Tehran," noting that "there is not enough evidence" to suggest that the actions of the Iranian boats were "direct orders from the Iranian regime against the United States." Last Saturday, the U.S. Navy had seized a shipment of smuggled weapons in the Gulf, containing anti-tank missiles and remote-controlled launchers of Chinese and Russian manufacture. Kirby only stated that the incident is "under investigation" to determine the source of the weapons and the intended destination of the shipment.