Pentagon rejects Iranian claims of ‘intercept’ against US Navy vessels

The Iranian navy released footage purporting to show fast attack craft harassing U.S. Navy vessels in the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, but the U.S. Defense Department says no such intercept occurred and the Iranian claim is “untrue.”

Iranian media first posted the Iranian navy’s footage on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. They claimed the heavily-edited footage showed fast attack vessels “intercepting” the USS Bataan and USS Thomas Hudner on August 17.

“That report is not true. So I don’t know where that’s coming from, but we’ve seen this from them before pushing out, I don’t know if it’s propaganda, but I would say untrue statements, and that just is not accurate,” Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh told Fox News Digital in a statement.

Another DOD official emphasized that the U.S. Navy ships remain in international waters at all times.

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“The U.S. will continue to fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows,” the official said.

Iranian media also claimed the swarm of boats forced multiple helicopters to land back on the U.S. warships, another claim the Pentagon denies.

“No U.S. helicopter returned early to deck” because of the IRGC Navy threats, U.S. 5th Fleet Spokesperson Commander Rick Chernitze told Fox News Digital.

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Iran’s navy has frequently harassed U.S. vessels in and around the Strait of Hormuz over the past 12 months. A similar incident in June saw U.S. and U.K. warships chase away Iranian vessels that were hounding a merchant ship.

The U.S. Navy’s guided-missile destroyer USS McFaul and the U.K. Royal Navy frigate HMS Lancaster responded to scene, with the HMS Lancaster deploying a helicopter as well.

“The situation deescalated approximately an hour later when the merchant vessel confirmed the fast-attack craft departed the scene,” the U.S. Navy said at the time. “The merchant ship continued transiting the Strait of Hormuz without further incident.: