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Subscribe to RSSAn Iranian patrol boat approached a U.S. aircraft carrier, backing down within two miles from the USS Abraham Lincoln. NBC's Jim Miklaszewski reports from the USS Abraham Lincoln.
ABOARD THE USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN – A U.S. aircraft carrier sailing through the strategic Strait of Hormuz had a close encounter with an Iranian vessel Tuesday.
The Iranian navy patrol boat came within two miles of the USS Abraham Lincoln, part of the Bahrain-based 5th Fleet, as it sailed through the strait with the destroyer Cape St. George and a guided missile cruiser.
The Iranian military came out for a look at the ships, first sending a reconnaissance flight and then sending the Iranian patrol boat.
The commander of the USS Abraham Lincoln, Capt. John Alexander, said such close encounters “could eventually lead to a fatal miscalculation.”
“They have the ability to take a shot at me at some point, and I worry about it,” Alexander told NBC News.
Because of strong U.S. sanctions over Iran’s nuclear program, Iran has threatened to shut down the strait and attack U.S. warships. Oil tankers carry a fifth of the world's oil supply through the strait, only about 30 miles across at its narrowest point.
Iran has also amassed Revolutionary Guard fast boats, submarines and, along the shoreline, anti-ship cruise missiles.
Vice Admiral Mark Fox, commander of the 5th Fleet, said, “We’re ready today. This is the world we live in.”
Fox said Sunday that Iran had built up its naval forces in the Gulf and prepared boats that could be used in suicide attacks, but the U.S. Navy could prevent it from blocking the Strait of Hormuz.
The U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet always has at least one supercarrier at sea accompanied by scores of jets and a fleet of frigates and destroyers.
NBC's Jim Miklaszewski and Reuters contributed to this report.
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Apparently everyone missed the part where they turned out not to be Iranian military boats, but civilian smugglers.
NO COMMENT.
Why is an Iranian Patrol boat being allowed to get that close to a US navy ship?
Why are we so close to their country, provoking yet another costly middle east war we can't afford?
casual,
i wont bother telling you how stupid your comment was.....oppps!
Kitty -International waters.
The Rachel Maddow report was very informative. WOW are the Iranians bad at the spy/assassination game...
I don't know who's worse, Iran for intentionally creating turmoil in the oil market, or the speculators who are taking advantage of it.
Iran isn't "intentionally creating turmoil in the oil market". We are doing that all by ourselves for putting our fleet on their doorstep.
I think you might want to take a look at what Iran is saying. They openly predict oil price hikes based on their rhetoric and threats.
Why don't we learn our lesson? Iraq and Afghanistan have drained our treasure and brought us close to Great Depression II. We can't afford a war of attrition with Iran, why are we doing this? Everyone says Iran is provoking us. I'm not so sure- if they had carriers and ships sitting at the mouth of the Mississippi, how would you feel?
Look, if we left the region right now, you know what would happen to us? Nothing. The price of gas might actually go DOWN. So what if Iran gets nukes. All those middle east countries are ruled by nothing but a bunch of extremely wealthy spoiled brats who can't along. Let them kill each other, every one. Keep America out of any more middle east wars, keep our troops home. Heal America first! We need the money!
Any provocation by these Iranian bearded monkeys needs to be met with deadly and overwhelming force. They are nothing more than an infected boil on the face of the world.
casual,
first, do some research before you post nonsense. let me "enlighten" you
the fifth fleet is based in Bahrain, the fifth fleet patrols the Oman gulf and the Arabian sea...these are international waters.. this includes the strait of Hormuz which is a key shipping lane which Iran has threatened to shut down or attack our vessels as they pass. so it is not the US setting ships in their back yard... it's Iran threatening to throw eggs as we pass...i hope this helps, but i doubt it!
i'd rather listen to the 99% , then kiss the bee -hinds of the 1%
Would some ex navy explain is there a safety zone like over the white house "no fly zone"? Are all ships and boats expected to make way? I realize two miles is not that far with weapon systems of today.
OOps gotta start a war somewhere , can`t bring the troops home, there are no jobs for them
It would take maybe 15 minutes to level Irans oil and sea ports then they wopuld have to revert to rowing their Fleet and buying oil from a competitor.Just pull a missle crusier within eyesight of their ports and shoot off a coulple of dummie rockets ,then their pants which are /have been recognized for years and years as [7 day @!$%#ters] would prove to be true.This from an old old navy retiree.
We used to play these cat & mouse games with the Russians all the time back in the 80s. The difference is we had a sensible adversary back then so the game never escalated to war. Not so sure I can say the same of Iran.
America and the West have got only themselves to blame for the Islamic jihad problem and the nuclear aspirations of countries like Iran. Countries like Iran are trying to develop nukes only to keep the oil robbers (America and the West) at bay. Americans, Brits and other Westerners are nasty parasites who have grown rich by sucking the wealth and resources of the rest of the world for centuries and still continue to plunder oil and other resources from other countries. The US, Australia, South Africa and other such countries were founded by the parasitic whites by exploiting and plundering the wealth and lands of other races and so it is futile to expect them to play fair now. That is why countries like Iran need nukes to counter the threat of these parasites and that is why we have Islamic jihadis in the world now. The parasitic whites are the root cause of all evil and violence going on in the world. All the money and resources of all the countries in the world that are used to wage war and on defense could have been used for better purposes like to eliminate poverty and hunger, but unfortunately these parasitic whites just can't learn to live in peace and contentment. After two centuries of British colonial rule, India's GDP shrunk from 25% of the world GDP in 1700 (compared to 2% to 3% of that of England) to 3% in 1947, at the time of independence. The white parasites have damaged the progress of human civilization so badly that it will take half a millennium or more for equality to be restored. When future historians look back, they will surely conclude that what the white parasites gave to the world was very trifling compared to what they took away from the billions of natives in Africa, Asia, America, Australia etc. These parasitic whites are a cancer to the welfare of the world as a whole and the sooner they are wiped off the face of the planet, the better.
Don't worry, Obama is going to take care of the "white parasites" during his second term!
BOBOLONEY - Pretty optimistic I'd say.
I thought whites were racists...
Anybody that thinks the Navy is sitting back and laughing at Iran's capability's has never tracked a Russian Kilo class submarine. In a coastal defence scenario, it is a very formidable opponent. Once it is in close enough to shoot it could be trouble for any ship in the water, including our carrier. Now with that being said, I'm sure that the first order of the day will be to locate and sink them, and I'm sure they are being trailed now. Bottom line, I'm glad we have someone with a head on their shoulders behind the desk, or we would already be at war. Lets pray that his patients outlasts the war mongers on both sides that want nothing less than a full out conflict so we can test our weapons against the best China and the Russia have to offer.
In all reality, I don't think taking Iran on is a bad idea. Russia & China will do some "sabre rattling", but, in the end it would also be a thorn out of their side also.
Divide and conquer" was the strategy for robbing countries adopted by the British robbers in the colonial days and American robbers now follow that to rob Middle Eastern countries of their oil. As part of that plan, the CIA has instigated civil war in all Middle Eastern countries one by one and that's why America hates Iran because Iran has a strong, visionary leader in Dr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who won't tolerate any American interference in his country. All Middle Eastern countries should unitedly declare war on the US and Iran should develop nukes and nuke America from coast to coast. America's motive is crystal clear – oust Ahmadinejad, establish a puppet government in Iran (like they did in Iraq) which will grant oil contracts to American companies (Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Conoco Philips, etc) and exploit Iran's oil for America's development, thus depriving Iran's population of the benefits of their oil, while preserving its own oil reserves in Alaska for the future, when all Middle-East oil reserves are depleted. Only nukes will solve the problem created by the oil-robbing American parasites.
Indiasucks- Ahmanutjob is a strong visionary leader? Envision this: Iran's navy at the bottom of the Arabian Gulf, it's nuclear facilities destroyed, the country humiliated by Israel. It's coming soon.
Visionary.......how about kidnapper, terrorist and lunatic!
I'm pretty sure Ghengis Khan, Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Idi Amin, & Pol Pot were all considered strong, visionary leaders as well.
...of the 3rd kind?
God bless my daughter who is onboard
Jennifers ship, please keep her in your prayers
I have the utmost respect for volunteer members of our military. Our young men and women are the finest and enable us to live free.
My prayers are with all the members of our military.
If Iran fires at any US ship we should flatten the country. Something similar to smacking a fly with a fly swatter.
Joyce, I hope you said the same thing about Iraq when they fired daily on US aircraft enforcing the UN mandated no-fly zones. To me, this was enough to take them out.
I agree with you. We were lucky that they didn't bring down a lot of our planes.
My point is that the best defense is a good offense and when you go to battle you go to win. Our military is the best and when asked can break things and kill people. I just don't want our military put into a defensive position and told that they can only have a limited response to provocations.
Joyce, I was an Electronics Warfare operator/technician and I can tell you there are indications we can intercept when an enemy is prepairing to attack. I don't think any US Commanding officer would let them fire first.
Joyce...As a Navy Reserve Captain I can tell you that EWUSNRET is 100% correct.
Thanks Captain.
I took a look at newspapers around the web in different parts of the world....no one else cares about this issue and quite honestly if a battle group were this close to our shores we check up on them as well.
They are trying to stage an incident and build a case for attacking Iran
You're completely dead wrong. The mission of the US Navy is to enforce freedom of navigation. They are sailing in international waters.
Pro life - Sorry but you are 180 degrees out of phase with your ramblings.
EWUSNRET - O come on: with all respect if a fleet of soviet warships was 40 miles or less off our coast we were certainly do some reconnaissance at a minimum. My Air Force squadron used to blow the ears out of the Russian trawlers in the Gulf of Mexico on a regular basis.
True, no problem with them checking us out. We and they have a right to be in international waters. If they fire on u,s or act hostile, we also have the right of self-defense.
@ A Messenger-2926105. Just a little paranoid aren't you. Bet your a Birther as well.
The real message that Iran is trying to send is that they are striving for a nuclear weapon to strike first in the middle east and they are doing their best to have somebody hit them first and it most likely will be Israel. If that is not bad enough, it is the nuclear fall out that is going to affect their region first and then go west. It is not a good situation for sure. But Iran can only push Israel so far and once they determine that the threat is real, they will turn the area into a cinder pile no matter what we say.
F*ck iran. Blast 'em now, get it over with.
Attack US Boats? That's what they DON'T want to do...I bet the powers that be WISHED they'd try some #@%* like that so we can come in there and put foot-to-ass......We are not going to let Iran block the Strait under any circumstances.