At around 5am local time Sunday morning five Iranian Revolutionary Guard (IRG) patrol boats encountered three US naval warships of the 5th Fleet, identified as the USS Port Royal (CG 73), USS Hopper (DDG 70), and the USS Ingraham (FFG 61), in international waters within the Straight of Hormuz (http://www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=34207).
The Iranian vessels were accused of "harassing" the US warships. The Iranians were reported to have said, "I am coming at you. You will explode in a couple of minutes," on the bridge-to-bridge radio communication systems. Secretary of State Rice called the Iranian's actions "provocative and dangerous" (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7175325.stm).
There is speculation that IRG hard-liners, who are outside of the Iranian establishment, are may want to sabotage détente between the US and Iran (http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iran8jan08,0,7610536.story?coll=la-home-center)
. But could it be a provocateur operation by the US government to subvert the threat of détente in light of the recent NIE which stated Iran ceased its clandestine nuclear weapons program in 2003?
At around 5am local time Sunday morning five Iranian Revolutionary Guard (IRG) patrol boats encountered three US naval warships of the 5th Fleet, identified as the USS Port Royal (CG 73), USS Hopper (DDG 70), and the USS Ingraham (FFG 61), in international waters within the Straight of Hormuz (http://www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=34207).
The Iranian vessels were accused of "harassing" the US warships. The Iranians were reported to have said, "I am coming at you. You will explode in a couple of minutes," on the bridge-to-bridge radio communication systems. Secretary of State Rice called the Iranian's actions "provocative and dangerous" (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7175325.stm).
There is speculation that IRG hard-liners, who are outside of the Iranian establishment, are may want to sabotage détente between the US and Iran (http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iran8jan08,0,7610536.story?coll=la-home-center)
. But could it be a provocateur operation by the US government to subvert the threat of détente in light of the recent NIE which stated Iran ceased its clandestine nuclear weapons program in 2003?
The Straight of Hormuz is a strategically crucial route for Gulf oil exports, and oil prices spiked as a result of the incident. The Fars news agency citing anonymous sources claimed Navy vessels were getting close to Iranian waters but that the US vessels identified themselves (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/08/washington/08military.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin).
According to US personnel one fastboat placed two white crates, perhaps as faux mines, in the path of the guided missile destroyer, the USS Hopper, causing it to take evasive action. The IRG boat reportedly passed within 200m of the USS Hopper. Yet, destroyers were designed specifically as a counter weapon against small, swift boats like the IRG fastboats, making it absolutely the worst ship of the three for the patrol boats to maneuver aggressively against.
The Fars news agency stated:
Iran has traditionally been responsible for protecting security of the Strait of Hormuz throughout the past centuries as a part of the strait is located inside Iranian borders. US officials have not yet explained why their warships disturbed tranquility of the very sensitive region by patrolling in an area adjacent to the Iranian borders in the deeply strategic Strait of Hormuz which links the Persian Gulf to the Sea of Oman, the only passage for tankers and trade ships traveling from the Eastern to the Western world. (http://www.farsnews.com/English/newstext.php?nn=8610170462).
The US warships are officially conducting maritime security operations (MSO) in the region. Interestingly enough, the US has conducted wargames simulating Iranian patrol boats aggressively swarming larger, more powerful Navy vessels and thus the US Navy was prepared for the incident.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Ali Hosseini, in a statement to Iranian state media IRWA, said it was an issue of misidentification, that it wasn’t an unusual incident for the two parties and was resolved after proper identification was established. This was in stark contrast to US accounts that the Navy warships were apparently seconds away from firing on the Iranian patrol boats before fastboats pulled back at the last moment (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/942434.html).
Incidentally, a sailor went missing from the USS Hopper on Jan. 3rd at approximately 7:30am local time. A "man overboard" was called and parties from the three warships conducted search and rescue operations. The search was "called off at 2:05 p.m. local time after 30 hours of extensive searching" (http://www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=34181). The sailor, whose name is being withheld, was last seen at approximately 4:30am Jan. 3rd but no further details are available.