Iran vessels make ‘high speed intercept’ of US ship — US official

WASHINGTON — Four of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) vessels "harassed" a US warship on Tuesday near the Strait of Hormuz, a US defence official said, amid Washington's concerns about Iran's posture in the Gulf and in the Syrian civil war.

The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said on Wednesday that two of the Iranian vessels came within 300 yards of the USS Nitze in an incident that was "unsafe and unprofessional". 

The vessels harassed the destroyer by "conducting a high speed intercept and closing within a short distance of Nitze, despite repeated warnings", the official said.

IRGC, the Islamic Republic's praetorian guard, is suspicious of US military activity near Iran's borders and appears to be sticking to a familiar posture in the Gulf that predates last year's nuclear accord between Iran and six world powers, including the United States.

The United States and other countries are concerned about Iran's support for Syrian President Bashar Assad, its ballistic missile program, and its backing for Shiite militias that have abused civilians in Iraq.

The US defence official said that in Tuesday's incident the USS Nitze tried to communicate with the Iranian vessels 12 times, but received no response. It also fired 10 flares in the direction of two of the Iranian vessels.

"The Iranian high rate of closure... created a dangerous, harassing situation that could have led to further escalation, including additional defensive measures by Nitze," the official said.