The US says Iranian boats harassed and provoked three US Navy ships in the strategic Strait of Hormuz Sunday.
But Iran denies the accusation, suggesting it is an issue of mistaken identity.
The USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier and the USNS Arctic sailing side-by-side in the Gulf.(Xinhua/AFP File Photo)
The US Navy 5th Fleet in Bahrain said the incident occurred Sunday morning local time while three US warships were on their
way into the Persian Gulf and passing through the strait which is a major oil shipping route between Iran and the Saudi peninsula.
They say US ships were in international waters at the time.
The Pentagon says five Iranian Revolutionary Guard boats "seriously provoked" the warships and made threatening radio transmissions.
The US warships manned gun positions and were prepared to shoot, but the Iranian boats suddenly turned away.
Iranian Navy boats during 2000 maneuvers. (Xinhua/AFP File Photo) Vice Admiral Kebin J. Cosgriff, Commander of US Naval Forces, said, "At one point during this encounter the ships received a radio call that was threatening in nature to the effect that they were closing our ships and that the US ships would explode. Subsequently, two of these boats were observed dropping objects in the water, generally in the path of the final ship in the formation, the USS Ingraham. These objects were white box-like objects that floated and obviously, the ship passed by them safely."
The Iranians have played down the incident, saying it is "something normal".
A Revolutionary Guard says there wasn't any unusual confrontation between Iranian patrol boats and US vessels.
He says guard boats were patrolling in the Strait when they saw US ships and routinely asked the ships to identify themselves.
He says the US ships did so and continued their path.
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