US Navy says Iran Revolutionary Guard fast-attack boats ‘harassed’ ship in Strait of Hormuz

By JON GAMBRELL
Associated Press

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The U.S. Navy says its sailors and the United Kingdom Royal Navy came to the aid of a ship in the crucial Strait of Hormuz after Iran’s Revolutionary Guard “harassed” it. Three fast-attack Guard vessels with armed troops aboard approached the merchant ship at a close distance on Sunday afternoon. That’s according to a U.S. Navy statement. Black-and-white images the Navy said it took from overhead showed three small ships close to the commercial ship. The guided-missile destroyer USS McFaul and the Royal Navy’s frigate HMS Lancaster responded to the incident, with the Lancaster launching a helicopter. The Guard later claimed it merely responded to the distress signal — even though the Navy said the Guard caused the incident.