Iran patrol boats threatened U.S. cargo ship, official says

From: Navy Times

WASHINGTON — Iranian naval forces have acted with mounting aggressiveness in the Persian Gulf region in the past week, including encircling and threatening a U.S.-flagged cargo vessel April 24, USA TODAY learned.

The previously undisclosed incident follows news Tuesday that Iranian patrol boats in the Strait of Hormuz fired across the bridge of the Maersk Tigris, a Marshall Islands-flagged cargo vessel. Last week, the U.S. Navy monitored Iranian cargo vessels and warships suspected of running weapons to rebels in Yemen.

The Navy is beefing up its ability to respond to threats in the region, said a senior Defense official speaking on condition of anonymity because the news was not authorized to be released publicly. Its aim is to "respond promptly to incidents in which U.S. and other partner nation commercial vessels are harassed or threatened" by Iranian patrol boats.

In the incident involving an American ship, four Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps navy patrol ships intercepted the Maersk Kensington, a U.S.-flagged cargo vessel, in the southern Persian Gulf on an internationally recognized trade route, according to the Defense Department official.

The confrontation began the morning of April 24 when the Iranian sailors radioed the Kensington, whose crew did not respond. The Iranian boats encircled the ship and came up behind it in waters off Oman. The Kensington's crew "interpreted this act as aggressive," the official said. The Iranian boats followed the Kensington before breaking off pursuit.

The Kensington reported the threat to the U.S. Navy's Central Command. The Navy informed American shipping companies to report threatening incidents.

The crew of the Tigris, though not a U.S.-flagged vessel, did that Tuesday. The Navy dispatched the USS Farragut, a destroyer, to the area. Naval surveillance planes have begun patrols in response to the incident, Army Col. Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman, said Tuesday.

The Navy has the ships and planes it needs in the region to respond to more threats, the official said. "The U.S. Navy will respond to any threat to U.S.-flagged ships transiting sea lanes in the region," the official said.

The official described the confrontations as "unusual," adding that ships regularly encounter Iranian patrols in the region and that "encounters are normally safe and professional."

The Iranians appear intent on pushing the Pentagon to the brink of retaliating, said John Pike, executive director of Globalsecurity.org, a defense policy organization.

"They're looking four our limits, looking for red lines" Pike said. "They're looking to see how provocative they can be before they can provoke a kinetic response from the United States."

The nine ships suspected of carrying arms turned back toward Iran after the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt and the guided-missile cruiser USS Normandy moved into waters off Yemen, Warren said.

http://www.navytimes.com/story/news/world/2015/04/28/iran-persian-gulf-navy/26528497/