A Navy destroyer fired three warning shots at Iranian patrol boats that were nearing the amphibious assault ship USS Makin Island in the Arabian Gulf.
The San Diego-based Makin Island is carrying 3,000 Marines along with their helicopters, Osprey tiltrotors and Harrier jet fighters.
The incident occurred Sunday in near the Strait of Hormuz and was first reported by Reuters.
Navy officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told Reuters the Norfolk-based destroyer USS Mahan established radio communication with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard boats but they did not respond to requests to slow down.
The destroyer fired warning flares and a Navy helicopter also dropped a smoke float before the warning shots were fired.
The Iranian vessels came within 900 yards of the Mahan, which was escorting the Makin Island and the the oiler USNS Walter S. Diehl, but turned away after the shots were fired from the destroyer’s .50-caliber deck guns.
President-elect Donald Trump has vowed that any Iranian vessels that harass the Navy will be “shot out of the water.”
— From Staff and Wire Reports
