Eleven Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard fast boats harassed U.S. naval vessels in the Persian Gulf in mid April. Footage released by the U.S. Navy shows the Iranian speed boats with machine guns mounted on the front buzzing around the USS Lewis Puller and the guided-missile destroyer USS Paul Hamilton. Tehran is upping its harassment amid the coronavirus pandemic and, playing out in the Pacific, a U.S. Navy controversy in which carrier captain Brett Crozier was very publicly relieved of command for actions during the pandemic. It reflects Iran’s decision to suddenly test the U.S. Navy’s response to pressure America’s presence across the Middle East.
Iran’s regime is not secretive about its motives. On just one day this week its state-run media outlet Press TV ran on its homepage six articles slamming the U.S. and allies in the region. Iran claims that the U.S. is gambling with disaster in the Persian Gulf, where the U.S. Fifth Fleet is based, and that the tensions are linked to Washington’s decision to leave the Iran Deal in 2018. The naval harassment is not just a protest against U.S. sanctions, though. It is related to rising tensions over the past year that has seen deadly rocket attacks on U.S. soldiers in Iraq, mining of at least six ships in the Gulf of Oman, and a drone attack on Saudi Arabia, as well as threats to Israel from Iranian allies in Lebanon and Syria.
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