US aircraft carrier encounters Iranian missiles

A US aircraft carrier came within 1.3 km of Iranian missiles while operating in the Strait of Hormuz.

USS Harry Truman aircraft carrier. Photo: Wikipedia

While transiting the strait at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, the USS Harry Truman encountered a missile during a live-fire exercise by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard in the area on December 26, CNN quoted US Central Command spokesman Kyle Raines as saying. He said the incident was "atypical of most interactions" between the US and Iranian navies.

NBC News was the first to report the incident. The Harry S. Truman was escorted through the strait by two coalition ships, one American and one from another coalition country.

The carrier remained in what the Pentagon calls an “internationally recognized shipping lane” when the Iranian navy announced over maritime radio that it was preparing for the exercise. Raines said the Truman did not stray into Iranian territorial waters at any point.

US military officials added that while the Iranians did not appear to target any specific ships during the exercise, their actions were “unnecessarily provocative and unsafe.”

There was no direct communication between the US and Iranian navies when the incident occurred, an official said.

The Truman recently returned to the region to support coalition-led air strikes against the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS).

According to VNE