Iranian troops fire rockets near USA warships

The aircraft carrier reportedly was being escorted by a USA destroyer and a French frigate.

Raines said this incident was “uncharacteristic of most interactions” between the usa and Iranian navies.

The Truman, accompanied by two warships from the US-led coalition supporting air strikes against Daesh in Iraq and Syria, was entering the Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz on a routine transit when the incident occurred, he said.

Both the USA and Iran insist the missile program is not part of a landmark agreement Tehran reached with world powers in July that is to lift worldwide sanctions in exchange for Iran curbing its nuclear program.

“Iran will resolutely respond to any interfering action by America against its defensive programmes”, said Jaber Ansari. However, the official said the French military did not consider it to be a threatening event as the rocket fire clearly wasn’t directed toward the Western fleet.

“U.S. Navy forces are committed to ensuring the safe and free navigation in the Strait of Hormuz and throughout the region by maintaining a strong presence”, Stephens said.

“The noteworthy thing waterway has seen past U.S.-Iran confrontations”.

Ramezan Shariff, a military spokesman, said on Thursday that Iranian forces didn’t carry out any drills or fire rockets near the key route for oil exports out of the Gulf.

A USA military official claimed that while the Iranians did not appear to be targeting any specific ships with the exercise, their actions were “unnecessarily provocative and unsafe”. It conducts anti-piracy patrols in the greater Gulf and serves as a regional counterbalance to Iran.

Separately on Tuesday, Navy Commander Kyle Raines, spokesman for US Central Command, told Reuters that the Iranians only gave nearby traffic 23 minutes advanced warning before firing the rockets from an attack craft in Omani waters. It is important for the anti-war movement in the U.S.to emphasize that the aggressor in this conflict is not Iran; it is the U.S.

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 US without a visa, a move the Iranian government called a violation of the nuclear agreement.

The aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman.