Iranian vessel takes ‘unsafe’ actions against US warship

Iranian forces pointed a laser at an airborne US Marine Corps helicopter on Tuesday in an encounter that involved three America ships and was deemed “unsafe and unprofessional” by the Navy.

The incident, reported the Washington Post, occurred in the Strait of Hormuz, a heavily trafficked waterway off Iran’s southern coast that connects the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. Two American ships, Bataan and Cole, were manoeuvring through the strait when an Iranian vessel pulled alongside them shining a spotlight on both. The Iranian vessel then pointed a laser on a Super Stallion helicopter flown by Marines from US vessels.

“The Iranian vessel then proceeded to turn its spotlight on Bataan, scanning the ship from bow to stern and stern to bow before heading outbound from the formation,” Navy Commander Bill Urban, a US military spokesman, said in a statement. “During the interaction, the Iranian vessel came within 800 yards of Bataan.”

Illuminating helicopters with lasers at night is dangerous as it creates a navigational hazard that can impair vision and can be disorienting to pilots using night vision goggles.

There were also reports of two other incidents that have occurred since March considered unsafe by US military. In one, the USNS Invincible, a ship equipped with sonar and radar, was forced to change course to avoid Iranian Revolutionary Guard fast boats that cut in front of the ship.

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Two days earlier in March, an Iranian frigate came within 150 yards of the Invincible in the Gulf of Oman.

In the most serious incident this year, Navy officials reported in January that the destroyer Mahan opened fire with warning shots from a .50-caliber machine gun in the Strait of Hormuz after four Revolutionary Guard Corps patrol boats performed “harassing” manoeuvres.

The US Navy has counted 23 interactions in 2015 and 35 in 2016 that were considered “unsafe and unprofessional”. The 2016 events all occurred in the first half of the year.