Tehran’s Revolutionary Guards deny speed boats threatened US ships
WASHINGTON/TEHRAN: The United States on Tuesday rejected
Iran’s assertion that a tense naval standoff between Washington and Tehran’s navies in the Strait of Hormuz was routine, and warned “they should not do it again.”
“It was out of the ordinary, it was reckless,” White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said, as US President George W Bush prepared to depart on a week-long Middle East trip partly designed to seek a united front to face down Iran.
“It’s hard for us to tell what they were thinking, or what they were doing, or whether or not they plan to take any such actions in the future. What I can tell you is our position is they should not do it again,” she said.
Asked whether the
incident bolstered Bush’s case against Iran, Perino replied: “I think it’s just another point of reference for people in the region who are concerned about the behaviour of Iran.”
While Bush aims to discuss the potential security threat posed by Tehran, it is “certainly not the main reason for the trip,” which is centred on efforts to revive Middle East peace talks, she said.
“The president’s purpose in going on the trip is to help advance the negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians as well as to encourage the Arab nations to recognise Israel, to recognize them as a neighbour and a partner in peace,” she said.
She later clarified that she did not mean that Bush would seek formal Arab diplomatic recognition of Israel.
US defence officials said five speedboats from the naval forces of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards menaced three US warships in the strategic waterway, with one radioing: “I’m coming at you and you will blow up in a couple of minutes.”
“It was a reckless and provocative act and what we are urging the Iranians to do is to refrain from such actions in the future so there won’t be any danger of any possible more serious incident,” said Perino.
Asked what Tehran’s motives were, the spokeswoman replied that the Islamic republic was a “very opaque society and it’s hard to say what they were doing.” -AFP /AP
Meanwhile, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards corps on Tuesday denied that its boats sent threatening messages to a US Navy convoy in the Gulf in an incident over the weekend, and it defended its right to ask American vessels to
identify themselves.
The Guards have said their boats approached the convoy early on Sunday and asked the US ships to identify themselves, then allowed them to continue into the Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz , a prime Middle East oil-shipping lane.
“No threatening messages were exchanged,” state television quoted an identified Revolutionary Guards official as saying on Tuesday.
The Pentagon said five small Iranian boats repeatedly “charged” three US warships cruiser, USS Port Royal, destroyer USS Hopper and frigate USS Ingraham, on what the US Navy called a routine passage in international waters.
US Navy and Iranian officials have said in the past that vessels from the two rival nations frequently come into contact in the waters of the narrow, heavily trafficked Gulf. They often communicate by radio to avoid incidents.
But the latest incident was the first time US officials have spoken of such a direct threat from Iranian boats.
On Tuesday, senior Revolutionary Guards Commander Ali Reza Tangsiri was quoted as saying Iran had the right to ask any ships to identify themselves upon entering or leaving the Persian Gulf.
“It is a basic responsibility of patrolling units of the Revolutionary Guards to take necessary interception measures toward any vessels entering into the waters of the Persian Gulf,” Tangsirisaid, according to the Mehr news agency.
“We are entitled to use our definite right in the Strait of Hormuz to take controlling measures in relation to the entry of any vessel into the Persian Gulf,” he was quoted as saying.