Iran Denies Claims of Rocket Launch Near US Warships as ‘Psychological War’

Truman aircraft carrier and other Western warships and commercial traffic last Saturday.

Iranian media and officials did not immediately discuss the tests Wednesday.

Then, on April 24, 2015 during a nighttime outbound Strait of Hormuz transit, the USS Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group observed Iranian small boats launching 11 unguided rockets from a position approximately five nautical miles from the carrier. It said the IRGC were conducting a live-fire exercise and the Truman came within about 1,500 yards (1,370 meters) of a rocket.

In Washington, Commander Kyle Raines said the action was “highly provocative, unsafe and unprofessional”.

A French military official, speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to be publicly named, confirmed the rocket fire took place Saturday. A French official says that country’s military doesn’t view the event as threatening because the rockets weren’t directed at the fleet. Iran has agreed to relinquish its nuclear weapons program in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions, among other things, per the negotiated deal. Iran has always denied seeking nuclear arms.

Gen. Ramezan Sharif, a Revolutionary Guard spokesman, said Thursday his forces didn’t carry out any drills in the key Persian Gulf waterway.

The latest incident comes at a sensitive time in US-Iranian relations.

According to the Pentagon, the USS Harry S. Truman was operating in an “internationally recognized maritime traffic lane” when Iran’s navy conducted their exercise.

The Wall Street Journal first reported that the Treasury Department was preparing sanctions against several individuals and companies in Iran, Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates.

Senator John McCain, who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, also spoke out against the missile incident, which he said implicated the weakness of the Iran deal.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hossein Jaber Ansari said here on Thursday that his countyr will respond to any new US sanctions and interfering measures over its defensive missile program.

“Such a move is illegal, unilateral and tactless, and Iran has already noted this point to the United States”, Jaber Ansari was quoted as saying by official IRNA news agency.