Navy Says Video Shows Iran Firing Rockets Near US Carrier

The Navy released the 30-second black and white video captured by an American military helicopter in response to a Freedom of Information Act request on Saturday.

It says the larger vessel in the footage is an oil tanker transiting the Strait of Hormuz, while the smaller ones are Iranian warships belonging to the Revolutionary Guards.

The images show what appears to be an Iranian Revolutionary Guard vessel firing rockets from a distance of about 1,500 yards, or less than a mile.

The video was released two weeks after the event allegedly took place. Previously, a Revolutionary Guard spokesman said their forces didn’t carry out drills there at that time and called the American comments “psychological warfare”. The U.S. warships have been assisting an airstrike campaign against the Islamic State group, also known as ISIS, and were transitioning through worldwide waters en route to the Persian Gulf.

The incident was preceded by one in April when the USS Theodore Roosevelt was leaving the strait to pursue an Iranian flotilla carrying weapons in the direction of Yemen. Kevin Stephens, a spokesman for the Navy’s 5th Fleet.

Earlier this month, the United Nations said Iran had violated U.N. Security Council resolutions following the October launch.

In July 1988, the USS Vincennes in the strait mistook an Iran Air flight heading to Dubai for an attacking fighter jet; the guided-missile cruiser shot down the plane, killing all 290 passengers and crew members onboard.

Washington first reported the incident in late December, saying that prior to live-fire exercise Iran gave a 23-minute warning over maritime radio. Iran has always denied seeking nuclear arms. Protesters in Iran then set ablaze the Saudi embassy.