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Iranian Fast Boats Harass US Ships, Submarine in Strait of Hormuz

Jeff Seldin

   WASHINGTON - A U.S. Coast Guard cutter fired two rounds of warning
   shots at a group of Iranian fast boats after what the Pentagon
   described as an "unsafe and unprofessional" encounter in the Strait of
   Hormuz.

   Pentagon press secretary John Kirby called Monday's high-speed
   encounter, involving 13 Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy
   (IRGCN) boats, "significant" given that it took place in an area where
   movement is limited.

   According to Kirby, a group of six U.S. vessels, including the guided
   missile cruiser USS Monterey, had been escorting the guided missile
   submarine USS Georgia into the strait when the Iranian boats approached