Official:

IRGC Navy to Continue Missions with No Care for US Ballyhoos

Rasa - The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Navy will continue its missions in the Persian Gulf seriously without any attention to the Pentagon officials' ballyhoos, an informed IRGC Navy official said on Tuesday.

News ID: 425382

Date: 29 November 2016 - 16:18

RNA - The official's remarks came after Pentagon officials claimed that on November 26, US Navy SH-60 helicopter approached Iranian warships in the Strait of Hormuz. The distance to one of them was not more than 800 meters, while the other one was about 2 kilometers away. The crew of one of the Iranian warships aimed an anti-aircraft weapon at the US helicopter to stop it from approaching the Iranian vessels further.

"Every now and then, some US officials raise such claims shows that they are in pursuit of certain objectives through their propaganda moves; therefore, we emphasize: ballyhoos are forbidden; you are the problem," the IRGC Navy official said.

"It is no more a secret any more today that the main problem in the Persian Gulf is the presence of the Americans who are seeking to display the conditions are abnormal with their improper and unprofessional behaviors," he added.

Noting that the vessels of different nations are everyday sailing through the region by respecting the international laws and rules without any problem, the official said that it is only the Americans who want to start problems.

He stressed the IRGC Navy's preparedness to confront any threats and monitor different vessels' moves in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, and said, "We will continue our missions in our country's territorial waters without any attention to the Americans' ballyhoos and in full tranquility, and with preciseness and seriousness."

In relevant remarks in July, Lieutenant Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Navy General Alireza Tangsiri said that 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 on January 12.

"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)," Tangsiri told FNA.

The IRGC seized two US Navy boats on January 12 and detained them 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.

Asked about the recent western media reports that the IRGC speedboats have monitored a US warship in the Persian Gulf's Strait of Hormuz, he said, "It is not a new thing and every new warship which enters the Persian Gulf, we will be present there for monitoring."

Tangsiri explained that reconnaissance of the new warships is carried out on surface and from the air by radars and drones and in a covert manner. "This is our inalienable and legal right."

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