The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Forrest Sherman maneuvers into position for a strait transit exercise, September 30, 2014. An Iranian ship repeatedly pointed a laser at the ship on two separate occasions this week. (Anthony N. Hilkowski/U.S. Navy)
MANAMA, Bahrain — An Iranian-flagged merchant vessel on two separate occasions pointed a laser at a U.S. Navy ship and helicopter, Navy officials said.
The Iranian ship repeatedly used the laser to target the USS Forrest Sherman and a helicopter belonging to the ship during the course of four days, said Lt. Brett Dawson, the deputy public affairs officer for U.S. Naval Forces Central Command.
Dawson said nobody was injured and no equipment was harmed in the incidents, the first of which happened Sunday in the Gulf of Aden, but U.S. Naval Forces Central Command views these activities as “unsafe” and “unprofessional.”
The incidents are the latest in a string of issues involving Iran and ships in the Middle East. In April, Iranian forces seized the MV Maersk Tigris — a Marshall Islands-flagged cargo ship — after firing warning shots at it. The Maersk was released about a week later.
According to Dawson, there is no rise in tensions, and the U.S. Navy will continue to be “thoughtful, vigilant, and responsible mariners and aviators as we work with our partners in the gulf.”
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