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[Lightning Count]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-40720323

A US Navy ship has fired warning shots at an Iranian Revolutionary Guard vessel in the Gulf, US officials say.

It happened at around 03:00 local time (00:00 GMT), as the Iranian ship began to approach the USS Thunderbolt.

A US defence official said the boat came within 450ft (137m), and ignored radio calls and the ship's whistle.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard is a paramilitary force that answers directly to Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
"The IRGCN boat was coming in at a high rate of speed. It did not respond to any signals, they did not respond to any bridge-to-bridge calls, they felt there was no choice except to fire the warning shots," the official told AFP news agency.

The Iranian ship stopped after the warning shots, and the Thunderbolt - accompanied by several US Coast Guard vessels - continued on its way.

The incident is the latest in a series of close encounters between ships from the US and Iran.

Years of hostility between the two nations eased slightly last year after Washington lifted sanctions on Tehran as part of a deal to curb its nuclear ambitions.
However, tensions remain over the Syrian war and Iran's ballistic missile programme, and stand-offs at sea have happened.

In January, the USS Mahan destroyer fired three warning shots when Iranian fast-attack vessels approached at high speed in the Strait of Hormuz.

In September 2016, during his presidential campaign, Donald Trump threatened that any Iranian ships hassling the US Navy in the Gulf would be "shot out of the water".

I feel like every day this Presidency is allowed to continue the worse things get. We're sitting a massive time bomb and no-one knows when it is going to go off.

 

[pulsemyne]

Nothing to do with the president as the Iranians have been doing this kind of thing for many years and not just to US ships either.

 

[Lightning Count]

Nothing to do with the president as the Iranians have been doing this kind of thing for many years and not just to US ships either.

Difference is Trump is nothing like Obama or Bush in his temperament. The others had restraint and tact, not sure the same can be said here.

 

[Stinkles]

Nothing to do with the president as the Iranians have been doing this kind of thing for many years and not just to US ships either.

And in Every case it has been related to decisions made by the sitting president, for better or worse.

 

[KernelPanic]

Wag the Dog.

 

[Luschient]

I feel like every day this Presidency is allowed to continue the worse things get. We're sitting a massive time bomb and no-one knows when it is going to go off.

Not sure what Trump has to do with this. You had a military vessel repeatedly warn another ship to not come towards it, other ship didn't respond in any way, warning shots were fired, situation over.

 

[JonnyDBrit]

Nothing to do with the president as the Iranians have been doing this kind of thing for many years and not just to US ships either.

Really the bigger issue in this regard what's otherwise been seen as one of Trump's only good appointments - Mattis. Mattis hates Iran with a passion, and one has to wonder how well he'd keep himself in check if a bigger incident broke out.