美國：美伊艦船波斯灣“危險“相遇，美艦開火示警
U.S. Navy ships sailing in the Persian Gulf were forced to fire warning shots and flares after being harassed by Iranian vessels in increasing close encounters, the Pentagon says.
In one incident Wednesday, the patrol ship USS Squall fired three warning shots into the water in the direction of an Iranian boat that was approaching another American ship head-on.
Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook told reporters Thursday the Iranian boat came within 182 meters of the USS Tempest and ignored several bridge-to-bridge radio calls and warning flares. It eventually turned away.
“These were incidents that the crews deemed unsafe,” Cook said. “These are incidents that carry a risk of escalation, and we don't desire any kind of escalation. Our ships have been operating in that part of the world for years.”
The same Iranian boat that harassed the USS Tempest also crossed in front of the USS Stout three times at a high rate of speed Wednesday in the same region, U.S. officials say.
The incidents involving the Iranian ships and parts of the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet spanned multiple days. Besides the two patrol ships, the USS Squall and Tempest, two U.S. destroyers, the USS Nitze and Stout, also were involved.
William Urban, a spokesman for the 5th Fleet, said the Iranian vessels that buzzed the Nitze ignored repeated radio, whistle and flare warnings. He described the Iranian actions as “unsafe and uNPRofessional, and not routine."
But Iran remained defiant in the face of U.S. accusations. Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency on Thursday quoted General Hosein Dehghan as saying, "If any foreign vessel enters our waters, we warn them, and if it's an invasion, we confront." He added that Iranian boats patrol to monitor traffic and foreign vessels in its territorial waters.五角大樓稱，在波斯灣航行的美國海軍艦隻在遭到伊朗艦艇不斷靠近的挑釁之後，美艦艇被迫開槍和火光警告。
在週三的一次事件中，一艘伊朗船隻迎頭駛近另一艘美國艦艇，美狂風號巡邏艦爲此三次向伊朗船方向的水中開槍警告。
美國國防部發言人彼得·庫克週四告訴記者，伊朗船隻進入了距離暴風號182米的範圍，並且無視駕駛臺對駕駛臺的幾次廣播呼叫和警告信號，最終該船調轉了方向。
庫克說，“艦艇上的海軍官兵認爲，這些事件是不安全的。這些事件有升級的危險，我們不希望看到任何方式的升級。我們的艦艇在那個區域行動已經很多年了。”
美國官員稱，騷擾暴風號的那艘伊朗船隻週三還在同一水域從斯托特號驅逐艦的面前高速穿梭了三次。
這些事件涉及伊朗船隻和美國海軍第五艦隊的部分艦艇，歷時數天。除了狂風號和暴風號兩艘巡邏艦外，還涉及尼采號和斯托特號驅逐艦。
第五艦隊發言人厄本說，騷擾尼采號的伊朗船隻無視幾次廣播、哨子和火光警告。他將伊朗的行爲形容爲“不安全、不專業、也不合常規”。
面對美國的指責，伊朗態度傲慢。伊朗半官方的塔斯尼姆通訊社週四援引侯賽因·達赫甘將軍的話，“如果任何外國船隻進入我們的海域，我們就警告它們。如果是入侵，我們就與他們對峙。” 他還說，伊朗船隻在自己的領屬海域巡邏，以便監控交通和外來船隻。
