US Navy says planes threatened by Iran in Strait of Hormuz

Iran threatened to shoot down two USA jets over the weekend after the aircraft flew close to the Islamic republic’s territorial waters over the Persian Gulf, Fox News reported Monday night.

Three times Iranians told the planes not to enter their airspace or they risked being shot down with surface-to-air missiles, the official said.

The reconnaissance mission was said to have taken place in the Strait of Hormuz, one mile beyond Iran’s territorial waters that according to worldwide maritime law extend 12 miles into the sea. “Anytime you threaten to shoot someone down, it’s not considered professional“.

Fox cites three officials familiar with the incident who say a Navy P-8 Poseidon and an EP-3 Eries were flying a reconnaissance mission on September 10 one mile outside of Iran’s territorial waters, which according to worldwide law extend 12 miles out to sea.

The two jets ignored Iran’s warning and continued to fly in worldwide airspace.

It was the fifth incident that the Pentagon claimed has happened in the past month, with US military increasingly criticizing the Iranian military for its actions in the Persian Gulf.

According to the official, the latest intelligence information they had showed there were no Iranian missile launchers in the vicinity.

In late August Iranian ships harassed United States naval vessels in the Persian Gulf in several incidents, including one that prompted an American ship to fire warning shots.

Trump appeared to be referring to a series of close encounters between the USA and Iran in worldwide waters in the Persian Gulf.

US Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump vowed on Friday that any Iranian vessels that harass the US Navy in the Gulf would be “shot out of the water” if he is elected on November 8.

The US Navy crews knew they were flying “outside the known range of Iranian air defenses” and proceeded with their flight plans.

“All three calls used threatening language”, the U.S. defense official said. A video of the incident shows Iranian boats evading US flares and coming within a dangerously close distance of the Nitze.

“This is principally the regime leadership trying to exert their influence and authority in the region”. Teheran promised to down two United States spy aircraft on 10 September, which had flown over the Strait of Hormuz. They claimed that Iranian boats sped close to two US Navy destroyers with their weapons uncovered in the strait in an “unsafe and unprofessional” encounter.