Michael Hernandez
August 30, 2016•Update: August 31, 2016
By Michael Hernandez
WASHINGTON
U.S. naval vessels have continued to face harassment by Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) ships “in recent days”, the U.S.’s Middle East commander said Tuesday.
“We have witnessed even more provocative activity by the IRGC and navy vessels,” Central Command commander Army Gen. Joseph Votel told reporters at the Pentagon.
“That type of behavior is very concerning and we hope to see Iran's naval forces act in a more professional manner,” he added.
The incidents are the latest in a string of similar events stretching back to last week when four Iranian ships conducted a “high-speed intercept” of the USS Nitze while it was in international waters near the Strait of Hormuz.
Two of the Iranian vessels closed to “within a short distance” of the Nitze as the ship attempted to make radio contact on 12 separate occasions without receiving a response during the Aug. 23 incident, a Pentagon the official said.
A separate incident Aug. 24 resulted in a U.S. vessel firing three shots to “warn the Iranian craft away”, according to the Pentagon.
Approximately 90 percent of all the incidents have been conducted by the IRGC’s Quds Force naval vessels, Votel said. The Quds Force is the IRGC’s special forces external operations wing.
“They don't come from the general Iranian navy; only a very, very small percentage of them do,” he said.
Votel said his primary concern is a potential “miscalculation” during these incidents that could result in direct conflict.
“I am concerned about rogue commanders, rogue Iranian Quds force naval commanders who are operating in a provocative manner and are trying to test us,” he said, but added that “ultimately we will prevail” in any potential military confrontation.
The Strait of Hormuz is a strategic waterway that connects the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman to the Persian Gulf.
Approximately 30 percent of the world’s seaborne-traded oil passes through the strait, according to the Energy Department.
