Five Iranian Revolutionary Guard boats harassed and were said to have provoked three US Navy ships in the Strait of Hormuz, a major oil shipping route off the Iranian coast, over the weekend, CNN reported yesterday.
Citing unidentified US officials, CNN said the Iranian vessels came within 200m of the US ships in international waters in the strait on Saturday and US sailors came close to opening fire.
Oil prices rose about US$0.30 to more than US$98 a barrel after the CNN report, with traders citing increased risk of disruptions to oil shipments along the key shipping route.
US military officials told CNN the boats were "attack craft" that they believed were operated by Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard.
The Iranian boats made threatening maneuvers against the US warships and threatening radio transmissions, the officials told CNN.
The captain of one US vessel was in the process of giving the order to shoot when the Iranian ships began turning away, CNN said.
A radio transmission from one of the Iranian ships said: "I am coming at you. You will explode in a couple of minutes," CNN reported, citing a US official.
After the radio communication, US sailors manned their guns and were very close to opening fire, it said.
There was no immediate US comment.
The Iranians also dropped unidentified white boxes into the water right in front of one of the US ships, officials told CNN said.
The incident occurred on the eve of a visit to the Middle East by US President George W. Bush, who said last week that one of the aims of his trip was to counter Iran's ambitions in the region.
In March, Iran seized 15 British sailors and marines in the Gulf and accused them of trespassing in Iranian territory while they inspected a merchant vessel. London maintained the British personnel were in Iraqi waters.
The British personnel were held for almost two weeks before being freed in what Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said was a "gift" to the British people.
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