The United States has a message for ships in the Persian Gulf: Don’t come too close to Navy vessels.
The Navy issued a warning on Tuesday that “armed vessels approaching within 100 meters of a U.S. naval vessel may be interpreted as a threat.” The move comes after President Trump threatened to fire on Iranian vessels that confront U.S. ships in the region.
A U.S. official told Reuters that the message was not meant to signal a change in U.S. rules of engagement. The new warning is likely directed toward Iran and follows an April incident where 11 Iranian naval vessels approached a group of U.S. ships in what the Navy described as “unsafe” and “unprofessional” actions.
After the incident, Trump warned that he ordered the Navy to destroy any Iranian vessels that attempt to do something like that again.
“I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea,” he said in an April tweet.
Escalations between the U.S. and Iran have down throttled since the coronavirus pandemic began, though the two countries were at the highest level of confrontation in years earlier this year when Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani was killed in a Baghdad drone strike.
Iran responded by firing missiles at bases in Iraq housing U.S. troops. The missiles caused brain injuries to dozens of soldiers, with Trump announcing earlier this month that 29 of those injured would receive Purple Hearts.
