FOREIGN POLICY/IRAN/MILITARY/NAVY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “A US Navy guided-missile destroyer fired a warning flare toward an Iranian Revolutionary Guard vessel coming near it in the Persian Gulf, an American official said on Wednesday [4-26-17], marking the latest tense naval encounter between the two countries.
The incident happened Monday as the vessel attempted to draw closer to the USS Mahan despite the destroyer trying to turn away from it, said Lt. Ian McConnaughey, a spokesman for the Bahrain-based 5th Fleet.
The ‘Mahan made several attempts to contact the Iranian vessel by bridge-to-bridge radio, issuing warning messages and twice sounding the internationally recognized danger signal of five short blasts with the ship’s whistle, as well as deploying a flare to determine the Iranian vessel’s intentions,’ McConnaughey said in a statement to The Associated Press.
The Iranian vessel came within 1,000 meters (about 1,100 yards) of the Mahan during the incident, the lieutenant said. The vessel later turned and sailed away.
Iranian authorities did not immediately report the incident on Wednesday.”
-Jon Gambrell, “US Navy destroyer fires warning shots at unresponsive, approaching Iranian ship,” Business Insider, April 26, 2017 8:26am