AFP: Iranian state television on Thursday aired a video taken by Iranian forces of an incident in the Strait of Hormuz with US warships, in a bid to counter footage issued by the Pentagon. TEHRAN (AFP) Iranian state television on Thursday aired a video taken by Iranian forces of an incident in the Strait of Hormuz with US warships, in a bid to counter footage issued by the Pentagon.
The four-minute video broadcast by English-language channel Press-TV showed an Iranian commander in a speedboat contacting an American sailor via radio, asking him to identify the US vessels and state their purpose.
“Coalition warship number 773 this is an Iranian patrol,” the Iranian commander is heard to say in good English.
“This is coalition warship number 73. I am operating in international waters,” comes the reply.
The Pentagon released a video and audio tape on Tuesday that it said confirmed US charges that Iranian speedboats swarmed around US warships in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday and radioed a threat to blow them up.
The confrontation has further inflamed tensions between Iran and the United States which are locked in a standoff over Tehran’s controversial nuclear drive.
