A Navy ship fired multiple warning shots at an Iranian vessel in the Persian Gulf that came within 150 yards of the U.S. ship, the Navy confirmed.

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The Iranian vessel, belonging to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, approached the USS Thunderbolt at a high speed and ignored warnings from it, including voice communications and sound signals.

"The Iranian vessel did not respond to repeated attempts to establish radio communications as it approached," U.S. Naval Forces Central Command said in a statement. "Thunderbolt then fired warning flares and sounded the internationally recognized danger signal of five short blasts on the ship's whistle, but the Iranian vessel continued inbound."

It wasn't until the warning shots were fired that the Iranian craft halted its approach, the Navy said.

The Navy characterized the encounter, which occurred around 3 p.m. local time Tuesday, as "an unsafe and unprofessional interaction" and said the Iranian boat's actions did not follow internationally recognized "rules of the road ... creating a risk for collision."

The Thunderbolt, a Navy patrol craft, was conducting a coalition exercise in international waters when the Iranian vessel approached, according to the Navy.

While close encounters between U.S. ships and Iranian small craft in the Gulf are common, it's rare for a U.S. ship to fire warning shots. This is the closest that an Iranian vessel has come to a U.S. ship in the Gulf in at least a year.

In January a Navy destroyer, the USS Mahan, fired a burst of warning shots at four Iranian small craft that were approaching a high speed. Those boats got as close as 890 yards. And in August of last year, the USS Squall fired warning shots into the water in front of a speeding Iranian boat to warn the craft that it had come within 200 yards.

In a more recent encounter the Navy deemed "unsafe and unprofessional," an Iranian ship targeted a laser at a U.S. helicopter as it accompanied three Navy ships through the Strait of Hormuz last month.

After that incident, a spokesman for the Navy's 5th Fleet said, "Illuminating helicopters with lasers at night is dangerous, as it creates a navigational hazard that can impair vision and can be disorienting to pilots using night-vision goggles." The closest the Iranian vessel got to those U.S. ships was 800 yards.</s>A US Navy ship fired warning shots at an armed Iranian patrol boat on Tuesday, in the northern end of the Persian Gulf after the latter came within 150 yards of the vessel. Citing two US defense officials, the CNN reported that the Iranian boat is believed to have been operated by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. The officials said the Iranian boat approached and came within 150 yards of the USS Thunderbolt, a US Navy patrol ship.

The USS Thunderbolt was accompanied by the USS Vella Gulf, which is a Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser, and two other US Coast guard vessels at the time. According to the report, the Iranians did not respond to any warnings from the US ship, including radio calls, firing of flares and five short blasts from the US Navy ship’s whistle. Following this the Navy ship then fired warning shots into the water over concerns about the possibility of a collision.

Meanwhile, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard is claiming that it “foiled the US warship’s provocative move against an Iranian Navy patrol boat in the Persian Gulf,” according to a statement published by Iran’s official news agency IRNA. The statement alleged that the US warship aimed to instigate and frighten the Iranian boat by firing two warning shots.

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This isn’t the first time two sides have had a tense encounter in the Persian Gulf. In June, the US military labeled the actions of an Iranian vessel “unsafe and unprofessional” after it trained a laser on a US helicopter that was accompanying a formation of American ships transiting the international waters of the Strait of Hormuz. Pentagon spokesman US Navy Capt. Jeff Davis previously told reporters that there had been 35 incidents of unsafe or unprofessional behavior by Iranian vessels in 2016.</s>This post has been updated with a statement from U.S. 5th Fleet on the Tuesday incident.

A Cyclone-class patrol craft warded off an Iranian patrol boat that was approaching a U.S. Navy guided-missile cruiser on Tuesday in the Persian Gulf, a Navy official told USNI News.

USS Thunderbolt (PC-12) fired “multiple warning shots” after an Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy Nassar-class patrol boat came within 150 yards. The incident occurred at about 2 P.M. local time, or 7 A.M. EST.

Thunderbolt was operating with two Coast Guard cutters and a U.S. Army logistics vessel in a screen around the guided-missile cruiser USS Vella Gulf (CG-72) as part of a U.S.-only exercise when the formation was approached by the Iranian PC, the official said.

“The Iranian vessel made a close approach to coastal patrol ship USS Thunderbolt (PC-12), getting within 150 yards. The Iranian vessel did not respond to repeated attempts to establish radio communications as it approached,” according to a statement from U.S. 5th Fleet provided to USNI News on Tuesday afternoon.

 “Thunderbolt then fired warning flares and sounded the internationally recognized danger signal of five short blasts on the ship’s whistle, but the Iranian vessel continued inbound. As the Iranian vessel proceeded toward the U.S. ship, Thunderbolt again sounded five short blasts prior to firing warning shots in front of the Iranian vessel. After the warning shots were fired, the Iranian vessel halted its unsafe approach.”

“The Iranian vessel’s actions were not in accordance with the internationally recognized COLREGs ‘rules of the road’ nor internationally recognized maritime customs, creating a risk for collision,” the statement continued.

Iraq and Kuwait navy assets were operating nearby but were not involved in the encounter. It’s unclear how close the incident came to two Iraqi offshore oil terminals, Khor Al Amaya and Al Başrah, a U.S. official told USNI News.

The incident follows a late-night encounter in June in which an Iranian Houdong-class guided-missile boat came within 800 yards of a formation of amphibious assault ship USS Bataan (LHD-5), guided-missile destroyer USS Cole (DDG-67) and dry cargo ship USNS Washington Chambers (T-AKE-11). The Iranian missile boat harassed the formation with a searchlight and a laser.

In March, an Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy patrol boat stopped short in front of the surveillance ship USNS Invincible (T-AGM-24).

In January, the guided-missile destroyer USS Mahan (DDG-72) fired three warning shots to ward off four armed IRGCN attack boats coming at the ship at high speed.

Separate from the regular Iranian Navy, the IRGCN answers directly to the sectarian leadership of Iran and often violates maritime laws and standards, according to both the U.S. and U.K. Since 2007 the group has controlled Iran’s coastal defense.

The following is the complete statement from U.S. 5th Fleet on the incident provided to USNI News.

An Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps naval vessel conducted an unsafe and unprofessional interaction with a U.S. Navy ship during a coalition exercise in the international waters of the Arabian Gulf, July 25.

The Iranian vessel made a close approach to coastal patrol ship USS Thunderbolt (PC 12), getting within 150 yards. The Iranian vessel did not respond to repeated attempts to establish radio communications as it approached. Thunderbolt then fired warning flares and sounded the internationally recognized danger signal of five short blasts on the ship’s whistle, but the Iranian vessel continued inbound. As the Iranian vessel proceeded toward the U.S. ship, Thunderbolt again sounded five short blasts prior to firing warning shots in front of the Iranian vessel. After the warning shots were fired, the Iranian vessel halted its unsafe approach.

The Iranian vessel’s actions were not in accordance with the internationally recognized COLREGs “rules of the road” nor internationally recognized maritime customs, creating a risk for collision.</s>A US Navy ship fired warning shots at an armed Iranian patrol boat Tuesday in the northern end of the Persian Gulf, according to two US defense officials.

The Iranian boat is believed to have been operated by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, according to a defense official familiar with details of the incident. The officials said the Iranian boat approached and came within 150 yards of the USS Thunderbolt, a US Navy patrol ship.

The Iranians did not respond to any warnings from the US ship, including radio calls, firing of flares and five short blasts from the US Navy ship’s whistle, which is the internationally recognized communications signal for danger, the officials said.

The Navy ship then fired warning shots into the water over concerns about the possibility of a collision, one of the officials said.

The Iranian ship then ceased its provocative actions but lingered in the area for some hours, one of the officials said. There were several US Navy ships in the immediate vicinity at the time of the incident conducting routine patrol operations in international waters, according to the defense officials.

A Cyclone-class patrol ship, the 179-foot USS Thunderbolt is armed with two 25mm Mk-38 machine guns, two .50-caliber machine guns and two automatic grenade launchers, according to the Navy.

This isn’t the first time the US and Iranian navies have had a tense encounter in the Persian Gulf.

In June, the US military labeled the actions of an Iranian vessel “unsafe and unprofessional” after it trained a laser on a US helicopter that was accompanying a formation of American ships transiting the international waters of the Strait of Hormuz.

No warning shots were fired during that encounter, but US defense officials criticized the use of the Iranian laser.

In April, the US accused an Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps ship of acting in an “unprofessional but also provocative” manner while approaching an American destroyer, the USS Mahan, while it was sailing in the Persian Gulf.

The official said the Iranian vessel had its weapons manned and came within approximately 1,000 yards of the US destroyer. The Mahan did not fire any warning shots.

Pentagon spokesman US Navy Capt. Jeff Davis previously told reporters that there had been 35 incidents of unsafe or unprofessional behavior by Iranian vessels in 2016, although the “vast majority” had occurred in the first half of that year.

A second US official said at the time that the number of unsafe and unprofessional encounters in 2017 was “way below” the number that had occurred by the same point in 2016.</s>A U.S. Navy ship fired warning shots toward an Iranian vessel near the northern Arabian Gulf on Tuesday after the vessel came within 150 yards (137 meters), a U.S. official told Reuters.

The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the USS Thunderbolt fired the warning shots after attempts to communicate by radio were ignored by the Iranian vessel.</s>A U.S. Navy ship fired multiple warning shots at an Iranian vessel in the Persian gulf that came within 150 yards of the American ship, a U.S. official confirmed.

The Iranian ship, believed to belong to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, was approaching the USS Thunderbolt at a high rate of speed and ignored warnings from the U.S. ship that included voice communications and sound signals, the official said.

The incident, which occurred around 3 p.m. local time Tuesday, was deemed "unsafe and unprofessional," the official said.

The USS Thunderbolt, a Navy patrol craft, was conducting routine operations in the Gulf when the Iranian vessel approached, the official said.

While close encounters between U.S. ships and Iranian small craft in the Gulf are common, it's rare for an American ship to fire warning shots. This is also the closest that an Iranian vessel has come to a U.S. ship in the Gulf in at least a year.

In January, a U.S. Navy destroyer, the USS Mahan, fired a burst of warning shots at four Iranian small craft that were approaching a high rate of speed. Those boats got as close as 890 yards. And in August, the USS Squall fired warning shots into waters ahead of a speeding Iranian boat to warn the small craft that it had come within 200 yards of the U.S. ship.

In a more recent encounter deemed "unsafe and unprofessional," an Iranian ship targeted a laser at a U.S. helicopter as it accompanied three U.S. Navy ships through the Strait of Hormuz last month.

Following that incident, a spokesman for the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet said, "Illuminating helicopters with lasers at night is dangerous, as it creates a navigational hazard that can impair vision and can be disorienting to pilots using night-vision goggles." The closest the Iranian vessel got to the American ships in that circumstance was 800 yards.

This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.</s>A U.S. Navy ship fired warning shots at an Iranian ship in the Persian Gulf on Tuesday, U.S. defense officials confirmed to Fox News.

The U.S. Navy coastal patrol ship fired warning shots from its .50-caliber machine gun at an Iranian patrol boat when it came within 150 yards of the ship in the Persian Gulf, according to two U.S. defense officials.

The Iranian ship ignored repeated radio calls from the USS Thunderbolt, which also launched flares to warn the fast approaching Iranian ship, officials said.

The incident happened Tuesday as a formation of U.S. Navy warships was doing an exercise in the Northern Persian Gulf.

It’s the first time since January a U.S. Navy warship has fired warning shots at an Iranian vessel which approached too close.

Lucas Tomlinson is the Pentagon and State Department producer for Fox News Channel. You can follow him on Twitter: @LucasFoxNews</s>A Tomahawk missile is shot from a US destroyer. An American Navy ship was forced to fire warning shots at an Iranian ship in the Persian Gulf recently: AFP

The United States Navy has reportedly fired warning shots at an Iranian vessel.

The US Navy patrol boat the USS Thunderbolt, a Cyclone-class patrol ship involved in an exercise in the Persian Gulf, reportedly shot the warnings during a tense encounter with the Iranian ship. A US official said that the Iranian naval vessel came within 150 yards (137 meters) of the Thunderbolt. The Iranian vessel reportedly didn't respond to radio calls, flares, or warning sirens. That forced the sailors aboard the US ship to use weapons to send their signal.

Iranian authorities didn't immediately respond to reports of the encounter, according ot the Associated Press. The US official spoke to reporters on anonymity since the US government hadn't made the interaction public yet.

The two countries frequently have tense exchanges in the Persian Gulf.

The warning shots come as tensions between the two countries have heightened, spurred on in part by anti-Iran rhetoric from President Donald Trump.

Mr Trump has issued sharp warnings to Iran recently over an ongoing dispute between Washington and Tehran over American citizens being held prisoner in Iran. The Iranian government has been critical of the US for holding Iranian citizens in its jails as well.

There will be "serious consequences" unless Iran releases American prisoners and stops using "hostage taking as a tool of state policy," Mr Trump said recently.

Mr Trump has been critical of a deal reached between his predecessor and the Iranian government, which eased sanctions in order to promote transparency from the Iranian nuclear programme. Still, even though Mr Trump had promised to "tear up" the agreement with Iran, his administration has already recertified the agreement, showing that Iran has complied with the agreement so far. Mr Trump, however, has proven to be unpredictable, and could decide that the deal is no longer working at any point - and could refuse to recertify the agreement, which is required every 90 days.</s>WASHINGTON, D.C. — A US Navy ship fired warning shots at an armed Iranian patrol boat Tuesday in the northern end of the Persian Gulf, according to two US defense officials.

The Iranian boat is believed to have been operated by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, according to a defense official familiar with details of the incident. The officials said the Iranian boat approached and came within 150 yards of the US ship.

The Iranians did not respond to any warnings from the US ship, including radio calls, firing of flares and five short blasts from the US Navy ship’s whistle, which is the internationally recognized communications signal for danger, the officials said.

The Navy ship then fired warning shots into the water over concerns about the possibility of a collision, one of the officials said.

The Iranian ship then ceased its provocative actions but lingered in the area for some hours, one of the officials said. There were several US Navy ships in the immediate vicinity at the time of the incident conducting routine patrol operations in international waters, according to the defense officials.</s>DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) - An American defense official says a U.S. Navy patrol boat fired warning shots near an Iranian naval ship during a tense encounter in the Persian Gulf.

The incident happened Tuesday and involved the USS Thunderbolt, a Cyclone-class patrol ship involved in an exercise with American and other vessels in the Gulf.

The official says the Iranian naval vessel came within 150 yards (137 meters) of the Thunderbolt. The official says the Iranian vessel did not respond to radio calls, flares and warning sirens, forcing U.S. sailors to fire the warning shots.

Iranian authorities did not immediately report the incident.

The American defense official spoke on condition of anonymity as the incident had yet to be made public.

Iran and the U.S. frequently have tense naval encounters in the Persian Gulf.
The United States Navy says the USS Thunderbolt fired a warning shot at an Iranian patrol boat after it came within 150 yards of the U.S. ship.