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Cairo: The US military has video and audio recordings of Iranian high-speed boats that threatened to blow up a three-ship US convoy in the Gulf and plans to release them, the top US Navy commander in the Mideast said on Tuesday.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said that its boats never threatened the US vessels during the encounter early Sunday in the Hormuz Strait, insisting it only asked them to identify themselves then let them continue into the Gulf.
But US Vice Adm. Kevin Cosgriff disputed that account, saying the incident was 'provocative.' Cosgriff, the commander of US 5th Fleet, which patrols the Gulf and is based in nearby Bahrain, said the identity of the American vessels was obvious, they were clearly marked and the incident took place during daylight when they could be seen.
"I can't help but conclude that it was provocative," Cosgriff said during a telephone interview.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned Tehran that it should cease its "provocations".
"Iran should not engage in such provocations," Rice said.
"That's what it was and it needs to stop. The US is going to defend its interests. It's going to defend its allies," Rice was quoted as saying in an interview with Jerusalem Post.
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