Washington: US President Donald Trump says he has instructed the US Navy to fire on any Iranian ships that harass it at sea,a week after 11 vessels from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy came dangerously close to US ships in the Gulf.
Close interactions with Iranian military vessels were not uncommon in 2016 and 2017. On several occasions,US Navy ships fired warning shots at Iranian vessels when they got too close.
While the Navy has the authority to act in self-defence,Trump's comments appeared to go further and are likely to stoke tensions between Iran and the US.
Trump's tweet came hours after Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps said it hadlaunched the country's first military satellite into orbit.
Earlier this month,the US military said eleven vessels from Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps Navy came dangerously close to US Navy and Coast Guard ships in the Gulf,calling the moves"dangerous and provocative."
At one point,the Iranian vessels came within about 10 metres of the US Coast Guard cutter Maui.
While such interactions at sea had occurred occasionally a few years ago,they had stopped recently.
Senior Pentagon officials said Trump's comments on Iran were meant as a warning to Tehran,but suggested that the US military would continue to abide by their existing right to self-defence instead of any changes to their rules.
"The President issued an important warning to the Iranians,what he was emphasising is all of our ships retain the right of self-defence,"Deputy Secretary of Defense David Norquist said.