By Xinhua
Tehran : Iran Tuesday denied its Revolutionary Guards boats had threatened to blow up US navy ships in the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend, saying what happened between the two sides was just a “routine” action to identify each other.
“No threatening message was transmitted,” the state television quoted an unidentified Guards official as saying.
Meanwhile, Ali Reza Tangsiri, commander of the Guards naval forces in the region, said that “Iran has the right to take controlling measures and ask all the vessels to identify themselves when they enter the Persian Gulf” through the Strait of Hormuz.
“No special engagement happened between the guards boats and foreign ships, it was just a normal identification,” he added.
The Pentagon said Monday that five Iranian revolutionary guard boats “seriously provoked” three US warships in the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend.
White House had warned Iran to refrain from taking “provocative actions that could lead to a dangerous incident in the future,” while the State Department said the United States ” will confront Iranian behaviour where it seeks to do harm either to us or our friends or allies in the region.”