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U.S. ship fires warning shots in encounter with Iranian boats

18 Comments
By ROBERT BURNS

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18 Comments
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Has the US ever once admitted to its Navy vessels making unsafe and unprofessional approaches to other boats?

Yes. There was a collision with a Japanese boat a few years ago and another near Malaysia later that same year. The Captains of those boats were retired.

Can anyone explain to me the U.S. fixation with Iran?

Iran sponsors terrorism around the world, not just in the middle east where they manufacture and ship rockets for harassing Israel and Saudi Arabia. The missiles fired into Saudi Arabian oil fields a few years ago were made by Iran, for example.

In 1979, Iran took 52 US diplomat and citizen hostages for over a year. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_hostage_crisis That's the start of the anti-Iranian govt stance for most Americans under 60 yrs old. Having a life-time "Supreme Leader of Iran" as the highest office/dictator isn't helpful either.

American Coast Guard vessels aren't warships. They don't have military hardware in the same class as the US Navy. The 50cal gun is probably their largest weapon.

UNCLOS is the rule of law around the right to navigate international straits. Both Iran and the US agree on portions of UNCLOS, but not the same portions and neither are signatories of that UN rule. UAE has not complained about the US actions to my knowledge. They are the southern country on the Strait. There are 2x 2 nm wide lanes in the strait. 1 lane is used for southbound traffic and the other is used by northbound traffic. This is accepted under UNCLOS. Under UNCLOS, all ships, regardless of flag, have a right to transit the straits quickly without being attacked or harassed. The waters are still Iranian on the northern side and Oman on the southern side. Both those counties have a duty:

The purpose shall exclusively be continuous and expeditious transit, and the vessels shall refrain from any other activity. Ships shall not threaten or use force against the strait states. This means that while military vessels have the right to sail through the Strait of Hormuz, they cannot use military force during the passage – not even to protect their own ships.

So, any ship, from any country, has a "right" to transit the strait.

14 ( +14 / -0 )

If the Iranian government is hoping to get the Americans back into the nuclear accord and reduce sanctions, it is going about it in a most blockheaded way.

12 ( +12 / -0 )

Only one nation in the area that regularly takes other nation's ships hostage. Small hint, it begins with an I.

11 ( +13 / -2 )

US Navy 5th Fleet home base is in Bahrain - that's between Bahrain and the US (just like Russia has a naval base in Syria). So yes, the US Navy 5th Fleet has to be there

International waters is international waters - as long as it's international, everyone has the right to be there. Keep it that way - why would anyone want restrictions - with any restrictions, someone could apply to you in the future

Just don't do anything stupid that could cause accidents. If these Iranian boats are doing something stupid, then they should stop. Why make risks causing an accident

11 ( +11 / -0 )

Edit. ... other nations' ships.

9 ( +9 / -0 )

10 miles from Iran's border.

10,000 miles from the US' border.

Who has a right to be there?

The Straits of Hormuz are international waters. Any maritime nation may use it. The US Navy has as much right to pass through there as any other nation's ships. If the US Navy didn't have ships there you know as well as I that Iran would try to close those straits to deprive the US and allies access to Saudi and Kuwaiti oil. That is why the US keeps warships on patrol there. That is one of the fundamental reasons a nation has a navy, to protect their maritime rights around the world.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

I admire the restraint the US has shown. I wonder if it might not be creating incentives to the Iranians.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Who has a right to be there?

It’s OK, it was an American Coast Guard warship.

0 ( +4 / -4 )

International waters is international waters - as long as it's international, everyone has the right to be there. Keep it that way - why would anyone want restrictions - with any restrictions, someone could apply to you in the future

The Strait is NOT international waters. It isn't that wide. Half of the water is part of Iran and the other half is part of Oman. There is a UN agreement which dictates how ships are to behave traversing this strait AND the responsibilities of the 2 nations who's territory is is. Iran is violating their responsibility. Ships from any country, of any type, have a legal right of transit, following the rules in the UN agreement.

In the UNCLOS, there is not right to self defense nor a right to defend other ships.

Videos released: https://www.youtube.com/embed/wv05J4-gI8o

https://www.youtube.com/embed/wKdMXIZanNE

"Ships" vs 18 pleasure boats - just with guns mounted. Gotta love that the Iranian Supreme Leader gave up is catamaran for this duty.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Of the 30 shots fired, five should have been for warning and the remaining 25 should have been to fire for effect. When I was out there in the US Navy we would sink Iranian small craft that did things like that. No questions asked. Get too close ore behave squirrely and we'd sink them. They learned not to mess with us. That lesson needs to be reinforced again.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

@Hear! Hear! Can anyone explain to me the U.S. fixation with Iran?

-8 ( +5 / -13 )

First off, regular American Coast Guard vessels of this class are very well armed. And the ones that are seconded to the Navy to make up for the lack of shallow draft vessels (other than landing craft, which are not suitable for use as an aggressive patrol presence) that are suited to the shallow waters of the Persian Gulf are upgraded for heavier guns as a matter of course.

Secondly, given that the US is demanding that Iran agree to extreme measures that are not in the JCPOA, in exchange for the US only making an even smaller gesture of effort at coming into compliance with the JCPOA than it did when Biden was VP, even if Iran was the rigidly controlled absolute dictatorship of American propaganda (rather than the normal type of hot mess of conflicting and competing agendas from different parts of the elected bodies that make up the government, and the tendency of members of the various governmental agencies to interpret the guidance from the elected bodies in light of their own agendas) it wouldn't see any reason to not react to hostile vessels probing the borders of Iranian waters with the same 'yeah, we saw you coming, and are more than ready to deal with you if you step over the line' response that the US considers 'professional and defensive' when they do it.

-10 ( +1 / -11 )

Has the US ever once admitted to its Navy vessels making unsafe and unprofessional approaches to other boats?

Has the US ever once admitted that it's Navy acted aggressively and opened fire unnecessarily in the waters around Iran? Even when they were firing (And hitting, with tragic results) a civilian airliner on its regularly scheduled passenger service flight?

So why take their unsubstantiated claims as something more than propaganda?

-11 ( +7 / -18 )

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