The US Navy is reporting a pair of American warships hanging around off the coast of Iran encountered Iranian coastal boats. The Navy faulted Iran for acting in an “unsafe” manner.
Such incidents have been happening for years, with the US ships simply being near enough to Iran’s coast for long enough that Iranian boats come out to scout them, and then the US is upset about it.
The USNS Choctaw County, a transport ship, was being escorted by the patrol ship USS Sirocco when they were approached by the three Iranian boats.The US fired a warning flare to drive them off.
Iran’s ships were called Boghammars, which refers to Taregh-class speedboats used for coastal patrol. The name “Boghammar” comes from the ships being made by Swedish company Boghammar Marin AB. Such ships are generally unarmored, and Iran favors them for fast scouting along their coast.
US complaints about encounters with Iran are common, but rarely lead to anything, beyond the US publishing some otherwise inconsequential videos, with media outlets emphasizing that you can see the Iranian flag on the Iranian boat.
Notice there are never “unsafe” encounters with Iranian boats on this side of the planet.
Iran labels all US war or petrol ships in Persian Gulf part of CENTCOM, a terrorist organization… So, the encounter was totally legal in their waters…!