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, 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. 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. 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. 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. 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 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.