US Navy Fires Warning Shots on 3 Iranian Vessels After Close Encounter

U.S. Navy soldiers speak to press on deck of USS Firebolt at Salman port in the capital Manama, Bahrain, on May 12, 2013. Marwan Naamani/AFP via Getty Images

The U.S. Navy on Tuesday fired warning shots toward three patrol boats with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN) in the north Persian Gulf after a close encounter with American vessels.

The United States military said in a statement that the three IRGCN speed boats moved within 68 yards of the U.S. Coast Guard vessel Baranoff and the USS Firebolt, a U.S. Navy patrol ship, while in international water in the northern Gulf.