Iran denies firing rockets at USA warship, accuses West of ‘psychological

On Tuesday, a U.S. military official said that the Iranian navy, in an act that was described as “highly provocative”, fired several rockets on 26 December within 1,500 metres of USS Truman.

The Revolutionary Guard “is generally loyal to Iran’s political hardliners and is clearly more politically influential than is Iran’s regular military”, according to a May report prepared for the U.S. Congress. Its “political influence has grown sharply as the regime has relied on it to suppress dissent”.

Navy officials immediately called the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Navy action “provocative and unsafe”, adding that the U.S. Navy did not have sufficient prior warning of an Iranian live-fire exercise in the area.

“The publication of such false news under the present circumstances is akin to psychological warfare”, Sharif was quoted as saying by Reuters.

The aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman transits the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday.

The US said the rockets were not fired in the direction of vessels from the US or any other state.

Iran has bridled under economic sanctions imposed by the USA and other nations due to its nuclear ambitions, although both sides struck a deal in October to delay them.

Provocations like this will further concerns some members of Congress have about the landmark deal on Iran’s nuclear program, especially the sanction relief part of the agreement.

The Strait of Hormuz is one of the world’s most strategically important passageways, in particular for the global oil supply chain, connecting the Persian Gulf to the open sea.

Iran has also aired footage on state television of an underground missile base, and in February sank a replica of a USA aircraft carrier near the strait.

Back in May, Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei underlined that security of the Persian Gulf region comes within the purview of the regional countries alone, and dismissed the USA claim of seeking security in the region.

Raines said the Iranian vessels announced over maritime radio that they would carry out a live-fire exercise only 23 minutes beforehand.

Under Resolution 1929, Iran is prohibited from working on ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear warheads.

Taraghi has long expressed the view that the nuclear deal did not signal a transformation of the long-strained relations between the United States and Iran.