The US Department of Defense (Pentagon) said on Monday that an Iranian Navy helicopter approached a US warship in the Gulf of Oman and circled it 3 times, in an incident that ended without affecting US operations.
"The Iranian aircraft flew within 25 yards (75 feet) of the warship Essex," Pentagon spokesman John Kirby confirmed.
Kirby added that carrying out such actions by the Iranian navy carries risks of miscalculation and escalation.
For its part, Iranian media published pictures of the Iranian helicopter approaching the American warship in the Gulf of Oman.
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Pictures of Perwaz Shansayyi Razmi Balgard, Nairy Daryai, Arch, Iran, Dar, Rodi, Persian Gulf, Per Faraz Shanawer LHD-2, Nairoy Daryayi, Arch of America, and Hannamayi Khalban Balgard, Arch Pa Parvaiza Yazdina, Iran.
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Iranian state television said last week that the Revolutionary Guards had thwarted an American attempt to seize an Iranian oil tanker in the Sea of ​​Oman.
However, US Defense Department spokesman John Kirby said at the time that Tehran's allegations that the US Navy tried to seize a ship loaded with Iranian oil were false and incorrect, and that the US Navy was acting in accordance with international law.
Tensions have escalated in the Gulf region since the United States sent military reinforcements, last year, against the backdrop of an attack on two oil tankers in the Sea of ​​Oman, in addition to the downing of a modern American reconnaissance plane with an Iranian missile over the Strait of Hormuz.
The facilities of the Saudi oil company "Aramco" in the southeast of the Kingdom were also attacked, incidents that Iran was accused of orchestrating.