Iran speedboats force US fleet to change course: US Navy official
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America's USNS Invincible warship (file photo)
A fleet of American and British warships have been “forced” to change their course after being encountered by a group of Iranian vessels near the Islamic Republic’s territorial waters in the Persian Gulf, according to a US navy official.
Speaking to the Associated Press on Monday, the unnamed US official said the speedboats, allegedly belonging to Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), came within 550 meters of USNS Invincible and its three-ship entourage from the UK Royal Navy in the Strait of Hormuz.
Describing the incident, which apparently happened on Saturday, as “unprofessional and dangerous,” the official said the American and British vessels had changed their course after failing to communicate with the other vessels over radio.
Equipped with highly sophisticated radars and other advanced systems, USNS Invincible is a tracking ship that monitors missile launches and sends important data back to the command center. It can measure such data as a missile’s accuracy.
EA
