The USS Nimitz is one of the largest battle ships on the planet and since January, Iranian forces were involved in 14 unsafe or unprofessional interactions.
Al Arabiya, 15 August 2017 - Despite increasing Iranian provocation, the “US Navy will continue to operate as it always has”, a senior commander told Al Arabiya English.
The latest of these provocations came on August 13 when an Iranian drone came within 300 meters of US fighters near the USS Nimitz, and only six days earlier, the Navy said an Iranian drone came within only 30 meters of an F-18 preparing to land on the carrier.
Since January, Iranian forces were involved in 14 unsafe or unprofessional interactions, said Commander Bill Urban, spokesman for the US Naval Central Command (NAVCENT), in Bahrain.
“The US Navy will continue to operate as it always has in the region; with professionalism and in accordance with widely accepted maritime rules and norms, grounded in international law. We expect the same from any nation’s professional maritime forces,” Cmdr Urban said in an emailed interview.
Last year, Iranian maritime forces have engaged in 35 unsafe or unprofessional engagements.
The US Navy’s chief of naval operations, Adm. John Richardson, last year suggested this could be the “new normal” with Iran.
“This idea of competition at sea, what is the new normal, we have to be mindful that we don’t become complacent as things get steadily busier,” Richardson said.
The provocations raise safety concerns and escalation, Cmdr Urban said.
“This type of behavior is not in accordance with international maritime customs, norms, and laws,” he said. “Each instance creates an unnecessary risk of escalation”.
The majority of interactions involve the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy, he said, “but we do, on occasion, have unsafe or unprofessional interactions with regular Iranian naval vessels”.
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