Iran´s state TV station airs video of Hormuz ship incident

Source: Xinhua | 01-11-2008 08:08

TEHRAN, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- Iran's state television station on Thursday aired a video released by the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) of an incident of confrontation between U.S. and Iranian ships in the Strait of Hormuz four days ago.

The footage, which lasted for about four minutes, showed an Iranian commander in a speedboat contacting a U.S. sailor via radio, asking him to identify the U.S. vessels.

"Coalition warship number 73, this is an Iranian naval patrol boat," the Iranian commander is heard to speak in English. "This is coalition warship number 73. I am operating in international waters," comes the reply.

The Iranian video came after the U.S. Pentagon released a video-and-audio tape Tuesday, saying the footage confirmed its claim that Iranian speedboats on Sunday swarmed U.S. warships in the Strait of Hormuz and radioed a threat to blow them up. In the U.S. recording, a man speaking in heavily accented English threatened, "I am coming to you... You will explode after a few minutes."

A member of the marine forces of the IRGC said on Wednesday that footage released by the U.S. Navy were file pictures and the audio had been fabricated, Iran's state-run English language Press TV channel reported.

The Pentagon said Monday that five Iranian boats had harassed and threatened three U.S. Navy warships in international waters in the Strait of Hormuz.

Bush administration officials immediately warned Iran to refrain from taking "provocative actions that could lead to a dangerous incident in the future."

But Iran responded by calling the incident "something normal" and said the incident has been resolved.

Editor:Zhang Pengfei