Noting that deployment of
the US and British vessels in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz
has endangered security of the strategic region which is deemed as the
world's energy lifeline, he said, "Their unprofessional moves have provoked tension and insecurity and can have irreparable consequences."
His
remarks came after a US official claimed on Monday that multiple
fast-attack vessels from the Iranian Islamic Revolution Guard Corps came
close to a US Navy ship in the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, forcing it
to change direction.
"The official,
speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the IRGCN boats came within
600 yards of the USNS Invincible, a tracking ship, and stopped. The
Invincible was being accompanied by three ships from British Royal Navy
and forced the formation to change course," Reuters claimed in its report.
Iran
has the lengthiest coasts along the Persian Gulf that entitles the
country to be in charge of protecting security of the waterway that
happens to be the world's energy lifeline.
US
navy ships approach Iran's maritime borders in the Strait of Hormuz
several times a year, and they are shooed away every time the IRGC Navy
boats approach them for warning.
As
international laws entitle Iran with the task to protect security at the
Strait, the IRGC has ordered all foreign ships to communicate in the
Persian language.
The IRGC seized two US Navy
boats in the waterway on January 12, 2016 and detained all on board on
Iran's Farsi Island in the Persian Gulf. Nine men and one woman arrived
in Iran's territorial waters in the Persian Gulf illegally when they
were captured by the IRGC Navy. They were freed later after diplomatic
consultations.
Last July, IRGCN
Lieutenant Commander General Alireza Tangsiri said the US warships have
been warned to keep 12 nautical miles away from Iran's territorial
waters or wait for an incident similar to what happened last January.
"We
have a strong presence in the quintuple regions of the South and our
independent bases in the Sea of Oman, in such a way that foreign vessels
never dare to approach regions 12 miles away from our territorial
waters and if they do, they will be treated like what we did to the
Americans (on January 12, 2016)," Tangsiri told FNA in July.
Late
this January, IRGC Deputy Top Commander Brigadier General Hossein
Salami stressed the IRGC Navy's high capabilities, and warned that any
aggressive action will receive Tehran's crushing response.
"Any
power that seeks to make an aggression against the (Iranian)
territorial waters intentionally or unintentionally will be confronted
by the IRGC Navy's high power," General Salami said, addressing a ceremony in the Northern city of Bushehr.
He
referred to the detention of the US naval forces by the IRGC Navy in
the Persian Gulf in January 2016, and said the incident shattered the
arrogant powers' awe in the heart of the Persian Gulf.