Iran denies firing rockets near USA warships

Iran yesterday denied United States accusations of launching a provocative rocket test last week near Western warships in the Strait of Hormuz, dismissing the claim as “psychological warfare” against the Islamic Republic.

While transiting the strait that sits at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, the USS Harry S. Truman had the encounter while the Iranian Revolutionary Guards were conducting a live-fire exercise in the area on Saturday, according to Cmdr.

For its part, Iran has tested a long-range guided ballistic missile, escalated its cyberespionage program against the US, and cracked down on journalists, activists and opposition figures.

After 23 minutes, the Iranian boats fired “several unguided rockets” about 1,370 metres from the warships and commercial traffic, the USA said.

Iran’s “actions were highly provocative”, Raines said.

The incident, first reported by NBC News, marks another flare-up as the Iranian nuclear pact is poised to take full effect.

Teheran and six world powers, including the United States, agreed in a deal in July to curb Iran’s nuclear programme in return for lifting economic sanctions.

Even with the nuclear agreement moving along, the Treasury Department is reportedly getting ready to slap new sanctions on companies and people participating in the ballistic missile program.

Yet Iran also is fuming over a Congress-passed law restricting people who have recently visited Iran or people holding dual Iranian citizenship from visiting the USA without a visa, a move the Iranian government called a violation of the nuclear agreement.

This video includes images from Getty Images, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command / Fifth Fleet / CC BY 2.0.

“While most interactions between Iranian forces and the US Navy are professional, safe, and routine, this event was not and runs contrary to efforts to ensure freedom of navigation and maritime safety in the global commons”, he added.

Iran’s weekend provocation is further proof getting a final nuclear deal is going to be a rocky road. “Until the Obama administration starts holding the Iranian regime accountable, we’ll see more of these hostile acts that put American lives in danger”.

“Iran hasn’t conduct any military drills in the Strait of Hormuz and doesn’t launch any rockets”, TASS cited the representative of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC), Ramazan Sharif, as saying. Iran sank a replica of a US aircraft carrier in February near the strait and it earlier tested out so-called “suicide drones” it said could crash into naval vessels.

“Theater is a good word for it”, Gholz said.