Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com).
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January 7, 2008

Pentagon Says Iran Boats Provoked US Warships in Strait of Hormuz
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=1AD3F18:A6F02AD83191E160DF2A14DB5F539138A13B8D4F2090AB2B& Military officials
say American ships prepared to fire after Iranian military speedboats
acted aggressively, charging US boats and dropping boxes in water U.S.
officials say five Iranian naval boats provoked three American
warships in the strategic Strait of Hormuz on Sunday.

Military officials said Monday that the American ships prepared to
fire after the Iranian military speedboats acted aggressively,
charging the U.S. boats before veering away and dropping boxes in the
water.

Pentagon officials say the Iranians used an open radio frequency to
warn the U.S. ships that they would blow up after a couple of minutes.

The White House called the incident "provocative" and warned Tehran to
refrain from such actions that could lead to a "dangerous incident in
the future."

The Strait of Hormuz between Iran and the United Arab Emirates is a
key shipping route for oil.  Both the Iranian and the U.S. navies
patrol the waterway.  

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.




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