Iranian naval vessels allegedly manoeuvre near US ships

A group of 11 Iranian naval vessels made "dangerous and harassing" manoeuvres near US ships in the northern Persian Gulf off Kuwait on Wednesday, US officials said.

In a written statement, US Naval Forces Central Command said the Iranian Revolutionary Guard vessels repeatedly crossed the bows and sterns of several American ships at close range and high speed.

In the group of US ships was the USS Paul Hamilton, a Navy destroyer, and the USS Lewis B. Puller, a ship that serves as an afloat landing base.

The US ships were operating with US Army Apache attack helicopters in international waters, the statement said.

The Americans issued multiple warnings via bridge-to-bridge radio, five short blasts from the ships’ horns and long-range acoustic noise maker devices, but received no immediate response, the US statement said.

After about an hour, the Iranian vessels responded to the bridge-to-bridge radio queries, then manoeuvred away.