Iranian naval vessels approached to within 1,500 yards of the U.S. aircraft carrier USS Truman and fired several unguided rockets, according to sources at the Pentagon.
The official characterized the incident as “certainly unnecessarily provocative.” We could add “deliberately so.”
The Hill:
At around 10:36 a.m., several Iranian navy vessels approached the Truman, as well as other coalition and merchant vessels, the official said.
“They were observed quickly approaching their location as they transited the Strait of Hormuz into the Arabian Gulf,” said the official.
At 10:45 a.m., Iran warned of a “previously unannounced live-fire exercise over maritime radio and requested for nearby vessels to remain clear,” the official added.
Approximately 40 minutes later, the exercise warnings were repeated, and the ships started to launch the rockets, the official said.
It is unclear how many rockets were fired, the official said; however, they were fired in a direction away from the passing commercial and coalition ships. The ships departed after firing the rockets.
The Truman is the first U.S. aircraft carrier to enter the Gulf, after the USS Theodore Roosevelt left in October, leaving a U.S. carrier gap of several months. The U.S. has maintained a carrier presence in the Gulf for decades, even keeping two carriers there at the same time to support the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars.
When the Roosevelt left the Gulf in early October, Iran conducted a ballistic missile test.