US fires warning shot at Iranian dhow

US Navy Ship Fires Warning Shot at Armed Iranian Dhow in Volatile Persian Gulf

By Vasudevan Sridharan

An American navy vessel fired a warning shot towards an armedIranian fishing vessel during a brief encounter in the volatile Persian Gulf, said the US Coast Guard.

The confrontation occurred when the US ship was on a routine patrol and officials insisted that the incident did not spiral out of control.

The US Coast Guard patrol boat Monomoy dispatched an inflatable boat to make contact with the Iranian dhow, a traditional vessel in the Middle East. Nonetheless, the Iranian boat is said to have stopped communication abruptly.

“The dhow’s crew trained and prepared to fire a .50 caliber machine gun on their small boat as it approached as part of a routine maritime security operation,” said the US navy.

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Source: uk.news.yahoo.com