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U.S.: Iranians 'Were a Heartbeat From Being Blown Up'
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ShareJanuary 07, 2008 12:57 PM
The standoff between three U.S. Navy ships and five Iranian speedboats in the Strait of Hormuz Sunday was one step away from turning violent.
"They were a heartbeat from being blown up," a Pentagon official, speaking of the Iranians, told ABC News.
According to the Navy intelligence report on the incident, the Iranians radioed, "I am coming at you. You will blow up in a couple of minutes."
The Navy ships radioed back, presumably transmitting a warning. All three ships also engaged in "evasive action," and according to senior Pentagon officials, the "prepare-to-fire" order had been given and the gun stations manned.
Pentagon officials today expressed surprise the Navy ships allowed at least one of the Iranian speedboats to get so close -- just 200 yards away -- without firing.
They say at least one of those speedboats boasted a machine gun, and all were behaving as if they were packed with explosives.
A Navy official told ABC News that while there have been similar incidents in the Gulf, Sunday's differed because of the "aggressive actions" taken by the Iranians.
"I've never seen a provocation like this is in international waters," another military official who has served for more than 25 years said.
The White House seconded that notion.
"We urge the Iranians to refrain from such provocative actions that could lead to dangerous incidents in the future," White House deputy press secretary Tony Fratto said.
Published reports cite the Iranian Foreign Ministry as confirming the incident but calling it "ordinary."
"Yesterday the Revolutionary Guard demonstrated their capacity to act irresponsibly and, in my estimation, well out of the ordinary norms of what we would expect," Vice Adm. Kevin Cosgriff said in response to Iran's account of Sunday's incident. "So hopefully, they've learned from this that we're serious."
Defense Secretary Robert Gates agreed, calling the tense standoff "troubling and a matter of real concern." He added, "This is a very volatile area, and the risk of an incident and of an incident escalating is real. I can't imagine what was on their minds."
ABC News' Luis Martinez and Jennifer Duck contributed to this report.
This post has been updated.
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January 7, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (468)
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The US is getting more scared that ever - some one hits us we then go into a meeting to see what we done wrong - go figure.......
Posted by: Joe | Jan 7, 2008 1:24:09 PM
Gulf of Tonkin, anyone?
Posted by: Sivan | Jan 7, 2008 1:25:03 PM
too bad they didn't follow through :(
Posted by: David | Jan 7, 2008 1:31:11 PM
Brings to mind the phrase "walking on thin ice? This is the kind of thing that because of some hot shot boat commander (Iran's in this case), can start a war by being so damned stupid!
Posted by: LongT | Jan 7, 2008 1:33:14 PM
I am suspicious. I'm afraid that Bush WANTS to provoke an incident so that he will have a reason to invade Iran. Since the nuclear weapon scare proved to be a lie, he appears to be looking for other opportunities. I pray that cooler and wiser heads prevail, and this is not allowed to happen.
Posted by: Marilyn | Jan 7, 2008 1:33:45 PM
Could be these Iranians are just idiots, or maybe it's a case of practice makes perfect.
Posted by: Mitch | Jan 7, 2008 1:34:23 PM
of my god, what is going on, please, teach these wackos a lesson and give your crew some target practice. This is clearly beyond normal behavior for non-threatening encounter. Give them 1000 yards, in a formal diplo. letter and then start firing,
Posted by: 43beenthere43 | Jan 7, 2008 1:37:21 PM
Sounds like some hyperbole from both sides. Kudos to the Navy commander who DIDN'T fire like the Pentagon wished he had. Obviously it wasn't necessary, and escalation was avoided. But the Pentagon WANTS escalation against Iran, of course, and I do hope the press is careful not to help them manufacture it.
Posted by: jock59801 | Jan 7, 2008 1:38:46 PM
They should have pulled the trigger!!
Posted by: David | Jan 7, 2008 1:41:46 PM
There has been no verification that any of this actually happened. ABCNEWS has to quote ANONYMOUS military sources to get their 'information'? The supposed radio transmission "MAY" have originated from an Iranian vessel? Where are the video tapes of the incident? Where are the audio records of the radio transmission? White boxes were dropped, but the Navy has no idea what was in them?? You mean they didn't take one as evidence?!
What if US military intelligence broadcast the message in order to frame Iran? What if there wasn't even a message broadcast, and this is all propaganda? What if no 'white boxes' were actually dropped? What if all this is war mongering propaganda, which is extremely likely. Five 'speedboats' are hardly a match for a fleet of Navy destroyer vessels, and 200 yards is hardly a threatening distance. This propaganda needs to be stopped now, before the neo-conservative wackos are able to manufacture another conflict in the middle east.
The lead up to the Iraq war saw the same exact kinds of bogus propaganda spewed out by the Pentagon to initiate the conflict. It is alarming that CNN and ABCNEWS would publish these events as fact without independent verification!!
Posted by: Eric | Jan 7, 2008 1:46:03 PM
Our government WANTS to go to war with Iran.
Posted by: Scott | Jan 7, 2008 1:46:18 PM
"...all [Iranian speedboards] were behaving as if they were packed with explosives"
And what is that supposed to mean?? How does a boat 'behave' when it is packed with explosives?
The war mongering propaganda reinvigorating itself here today is beyond ridiculous. Please quote some more anonymous military sources who will gladly tell you the Iranian boats were packed with nuclear weapons. Then maybe the neo-conservatives will get their wish to attack another country granted. And the price of oil will rise to $300/barrel, and Blackwater will be able to place another 100,000 employees in Iran, and the defense contractors will be able to build another 3 years worths of missiles, and all of the cronies will get even richer.
Posted by: Eric | Jan 7, 2008 1:57:16 PM
Merely bravado and this isn't the first instance. Is a rogue Iranian Naval leader responsible for this or is this Iranian policy?
Posted by: doug | Jan 7, 2008 1:58:46 PM
Someone please explain to me how a boat speeding towards a ship and telling them they are about to blow up in a couple of minutes is considered 'ordindary'?
Posted by: Paula | Jan 7, 2008 2:09:04 PM
1987-1988 - Opeartion Ernest Will/Operation Praying Mantis - the Iranians tried to do the same thing. Almost to the same exact date 20 years ago. We sunk them then and should do it again.
Posted by: | Jan 7, 2008 2:09:44 PM
Tonkin Gulf
Posted by: Anthony | Jan 7, 2008 2:12:57 PM
Remember, Islam is a religion of peace...
Posted by: Robert Marley | Jan 7, 2008 2:12:59 PM
If you wonder what this is all about Google "the gulf of tonkin"
Posted by: bushrots | Jan 7, 2008 2:13:19 PM
This pentagon official sounds brilliant
Posted by: Anthony | Jan 7, 2008 2:14:08 PM
they are some lucky morons, all it would take would be about a 2 second burst from those 3 american ships (fairly wimpy as they are comparatively speaking) and there wouldnt be a piece of those iranians bigger than a dime or so to be found ....
Posted by: bah | Jan 7, 2008 2:16:22 PM
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