US Destroyer Fires Warning Shots at Iranian Boats

A US Navy destroyer on Sunday fired warning shots at Iranian vessels during a tense standoff in the Persian Gulf. The USS Mahan fired three shots at four armed attack boats that pestered the ship, approaching at a high speed, USNI News reported. The US ship attempted to radio the boats, and sounded both the siren and the ship’s whistle. When the boats came within 900 yards of the ship, it fired three warning shots from a .50 caliber gun, according to USNI. The Iranian boats then left. The recent incident follows several other encounters between US and Iranian ships, including the January 2015 incident in which 10 US sailors were briefly detained on Farsi Island.