Iranian TV airs video of Gulf naval incident

[allesennogwat]

Iranian TV airs video of Gulf standoff


CAIRO, Egypt - Iran aired video Thursday of its boats and U.S. naval ships in the Persian Gulf in an apparent attempt to show that there was no confrontation between the vessels.


The grainy 5-minute, 20-second video — without sound or narration — showed a man speaking into a handheld radio, with three U.S. ships floating in the distance. It appeared to be shot from a small boat bobbing at least 100 yards from the American warships.

The footage did not show any Iranian boats approaching the U.S. vessels or any provocation. But the short clip likely did not show Sunday's entire encounter, which U.S. Navy officials described as threatening, and said lasted about 20 minutes.

It aired on Iran's state-run English-language channel Press TV, whose signal is often blocked inside Iran.

The clip also aired on the state-run Al-Alam Arabic channel, with an announcer saying the video showed "a routine and regular measure."

Later, another state TV channel aired four minutes of audio it said were radio communications between the Iranian boats and American ships.

"Coalition warship number 73, this is an Iranian navy patrol boat," a man's voice said in heavily accented English. "This is coalition warship number 73 operating in international waters," an American voice replied.

The Pentagon has released its own video of Sunday's incident, showing small Iranian boats swarming around U.S. warships in the Strait of Hormuz.

In the recording, a man threatens in English, "I am coming to you. ... You will explode after ... minutes."

The incident, which ended without any shots fired, has heightened U.S.-Iranian tension as President Bush visits the region. Bush was in the West Bank on Thursday, and heads next to Arab Gulf nations where he is expected to discuss strategy on Iran.

Iran has denied its boats threatened the U.S. vessels, and accused Washington of fabricating its video. The Pentagon dismissed that claim and warned its ships would respond with force if threatened.

On Thursday, the Web site of the Iranian state broadcasting company quoted a top Revolutionary Guards commander as calling the Pentagon's video "unusual and illogical."

"This attention by the U.S. media and officials to a routine encounter means Americans are taking an unusual approach to very ordinary issue," Gen. Ali Fadavi, the Guards' acting naval chief, was quoted as saying.

[allesennogwat]

TEHRAN - Iran released a video on Thursday which it said showed its boats did not threaten U.S. navy vessels in the Gulf, countering Washington's account of the event which President George W. Bush called "a provocative act."


The video, aired by Iran's Press TV satellite station, gave a completely different version of Sunday's incident in the Strait of Hormuz compared with one released earlier this week by the U.S. Department of Defense.

The incident was the latest sign of tension between Washington and Tehran, at odds over Iran's nuclear program and who is to blame for the violence in Iraq. It coincides with Bush's visit to the Middle East this week.

Press TV said the video, released by Iran's Revolutionary Guards a day after the force dismissed the Pentagon video as fake, included a recording of what it said was the exchange between the two sides.

Guards Brigadier General Ali Fadavi said Iran's boats had only approached the U.S. ships to examine the registration numbers as they had been unreadable, Press TV said.

The video showed an Iranian naval officer in a small craft speaking via radio to a ship which could not be clearly identified. A total of three ships could be seen on the video. One had the number 73 emblazoned on the side of its bow.

"Coalition warship 73 this (is an) Iranian navy patrol boat," the officer said in accented English.

"This is coalition warship 73. I read you loud and clear," the person replied in what seemed to be an American accent.

The Iranian officer then appeared to ask for the ships to identify themselves, though his words at times were indistinguishable:

"Coalition warship 73 this (is) Iranian navy patrol boat, request side number ... operating in the area (at) this time."

Fadavi, describing the Iranian action as normal inspections of vessels, accused the United States of creating a "media fuss," Fars News Agency reported.

"The governing system of America, at the time of Bush's failed trip to the region, is in need of such media fuss in order to reach its specific political goals," he said.

In contrast, the Pentagon video included a voice from a U.S. ship informing one of the small craft that it was "straying into danger and may be subject to defensive measures."

The craft responded: "You will explode after ... minutes," according to the video.

Bush warned Iran on Wednesday of "serious consequences" if it attacked U.S. ships in the Gulf and said all options were on the table.

The Strait of Hormuz handles 17 million barrels per day of water-borne crude oil, over a third of total global shipments.

[allesennogwat]

A visit, board, search and seizure (VBSS) team, from the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Hopper (DDG 70), departs Hopper to perform a noncompliant boarding exercise aboard the Military Sealift Command underway replenishment ship USNS John Ericsson (TAO-194), in this photo. Iran released a video on Thursday which it said showed its boats did not threaten U.S. navy vessels in the Gulf, countering Washington's account of the event which President George W. Bush called "a provocative act".