U.S. Navy fired warning shots after Iranian vessels got too close and didn't back off after warnings

The crew of a U.S. Navy ship on Monday fired warning shots after three Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy speed boats came too near to the American ships and then failed to back off despite the American crews' warnings.

"The IRGCN armed speed boats rapidly approached U.S. Navy patrol coastal ship USS Firebolt (PC 10) and U.S. Coast Guard patrol boat USCGC Baranoff (WPB 1318) to an unnecessarily close range with unknown intent, including a closest point of approach (CPA) of 68 yards to both U.S. ships," according to a U.S. Navy press release about the episode which occurred in international waters. 

"The U.S. crews issued multiple warnings via bridge-to-bridge radio and loud-hailer devices, but the IRGCN vessels continued their close range maneuvers. The crew of Firebolt then fired warning shots, and the IRGCN vessels moved away to a safe distance from the U.S. vessels," the press release noted.