US warning to Iran after threat to warships in Gulf

Published on Monday 7 January 2008 21:29

THE White House issued a warning to Iran last night after dramatic reports that Iranian Revolutionary Guard speedboats threatened US warships in Strait of Hormuz on the eve of George Bush's tour of the Middle East.

The Iranians had radioed the American vessels warning an attack was imminent, a Pentagon official said.

"I'm coming at you and will blow you up in a couple of minutes," he quoted the radio transmission as saying.

American forces were on the on the verge of firing in self- defence when the five Iranian boats, which came within 200 metres of USS Port Royal, a navy cruiser, a destroyer and a frigate, turned and sped off, dropping unidentified objects in the water as they left, the officials said.

"It is the most serious provocation of this sort that we've seen yet," one said.

Reports of the 20-minute incident, which took place in international waters early on Sunday morning, emerged as President Bush prepared to leave for a six-day visit to the Middle East today.

"We urge the Iranians to refrain from such provocative actions that could lead to a dangerous situation in the future," Gordon Johndroe, the National Security Council spokesman, said.

The Pentagon described the Iranian actions as "careless, reckless and potentially hostile". Bryan Whitman, a spokesman, said: "This is clearly something that deserves an explanation."

But Tehran promptly played down the confrontation. "This is an ordinary occurrence which happens every now and then for both sides," Mohammad Ali Hosseini, the foreign ministry spokesman, said.

The incident surprised many Iran experts who said both Washington and Tehran had made recent efforts to "de- escalate" their confrontation.

One sceptical analyst said: "Have you ever heard of a suicide bomber saying 'hey, I'm going to blow myself up right now?'"

Washington will want to determine whether the action was the result of overzealous Revolutionary Guards acting on their own or whether it was an intended provocation planned in Tehran.

The second scenario would suggest Tehran was underlining its opposition to Mr Bush's visit.

His rare trip to the region is aimed at bolstering Arab support against Iran's nuclear programme as well as shoring up troubled peace moves between the Israelis and Palestinians. The narrow Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Persian Gulf is one of the world's most sensitive strategic locations, with at least a fifth of the world's crude oil supply passing through it.

Iranian commanders have repeatedly warned that if their country is attacked by the US, blocking the Strait's narrow choke-point to the Persian Gulf would be one of several means of retaliation. Oil prices rose some 30 cents to more than $98 a barrel after news of the incident before slipping back.

Iranian analysts urged caution, saying there had been public attempts by Tehran and Washington recently to ease tensions. The US military had also misread Iranian radio communications in the past, most notably in 1988 when the USS Vincennes mistakenly shot down an Iranian civilian airliner over the Strait of Hormuz, killing all 290 passengers and crew.

"I'd take this with a very large grain of salt until we get more details … who knows, this could be a turning point or it could be an isolated incident with no significance at all," Professor Gary Sick, an Iran specialist at University of Columbia, New York, said.

"This is contrary to all the positive signals we've seen in recent weeks from both sides. This strikes me really as an aberration," Prof Sick, who served on the National Security Council under Presidents Ford, Carter, and Reagan, told The Scotsman.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, last week said that relations with the US could be restored. Some believe he was sending a message to US presidential candidates.

HARDWARE LINED UP ON NEW FRONT LINE

THE largest of the American vessels involved in the confrontation with the Iranian boats was the USS Port Royal, a Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser.

The Port Royal is an extremely advanced ship, carrying the Aegis weapon control and radar system.

It was accompanied by the USS Hopper, a guided missile destroyer, another modern, advanced warship.

Both vessels carry a variety of missiles, including sea-to-air and surface to surface weapons. The Port Royal can also fire long-range cruise missiles.

The more lightly armed frigate USS Ingraham was the third vessel of the group. It is unclear exactly what vessels the Iranians used, but the fast attack craft of the variety that seized the 15 British sailors last year seems likely.

Iran has in the past claimed to be in possession of powerful Russian-designed Sunburn supersonic anti-ship missiles with which it could hit any vessel – military or civilian – passing through the straits.

The Sunburn missiles are extremely fast and give the defending vessel a maximum theoretical response time of only 25-30 seconds.