Another U.S. ship harassed by Iranian boats in the Persian Gulf

The USS Firebolt was forced to change course after being harassed by seven Iranian Revolutionary Guard fast-attack boats in the Persian Gulf Sunday. The Navy Times reports:

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The IRGCN boats approached Firebolt in the middle of the Persian Gulf on Sunday. Three peeled off and shadowed the PC from about 500 yards away for about eight minutes before turning and leaving the area, said the official, who was not authorized to speak on the record about the incident.

One of the remaining four FIACs in the area then turned and stopped directly in Firebolt’s path, forcing the ship to maneuver away to avoid a collision.

A spokesman for the Pentagon told reporters, “They came within about 100 yards of each other during the interaction.” From the Hill:

A defense official said there have been 31 such interactions with the Iranian navy so far this year.

“This is clearly a pattern, and it’s one we’re not happy about, and we’d like to see this sort of behavior stop,” Davis said.

Less than two weeks ago a Navy ship fired warning shots at a Revolutionary Guard boat after when it came within 200 yards. That followed another incident earlier the same week in which four IRGC boats came within 300 yards of the USS Nitze, a guided-missile destroyer.

The Pentagon has not released video of the incident this weekend but this video shows the USS Firebolt in action:

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