‘After approximately three hours of the U.S. issuing warning and conducting defensive maneuvers, the (Iranian) vessels maneuvered away from the U.S. ships and opened distance between them.’

The interaction marked the first ‘unsafe and unprofessional’ incident involving the Iranians since April 15, 2020, Rebarich said.

However, Iran had largely stopped such incidents in 2018 and throughout most of 2019, she said.

In 2017, the Navy recorded 14 instances of what it describes as ‘unsafe and or unprofessional’ interactions with Iranians forces. . . .

The incidents at sea almost always involve the Revolutionary Guard, which reports only to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Some analysts believe the incidents are meant in part to squeeze moderate President Hassan Rouhani´s administration after the 2015 nuclear deal.

They include a 2016 incident in which Iranian forces captured and held overnight 10 US sailors who strayed into the Islamic Republic’s territorial waters.

The incident comes as Iran negotiates with world powers in Vienna over Tehran and Washington returning to the 2015 nuclear deal.

It also follows a series of incidents across the Middle East attributed to a shadow war between Iran and Israel, which includes attacks on regional shipping and sabotage at Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility.  . . .

According to News Max, “U.S. and Israeli officials meeting in Washington on Tuesday discussed their serious concerns about advancements in Iran’s nuclear program and agreed on the “significant threat” posed by Iran’s behavior in the Middle East, the White House said.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan and Israeli national security adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat also agreed in their meeting to establish an inter-agency working group to focus attention on the growing threat from Iran providing drones and precision-guided missiles to its allies, the White House said. . . .”

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(Excerpted from Daily Mail & News Max.  Photo Credit: Canva.)