Iran’s Navy Forces US Submarine to Surface in Gulf, US Denies
Iran’s navy forced a U.S. submarine to the surface as it entered the Gulf, Iranian navy commander Shahram Irani told state television on Thursday, but the United States Navy’s Fifth Fleet denied such an incident had taken place.
“This submarine was doing its best, using all its capacities, to pass in total silence and without being detected,” Irani said. “We will certainly reflect to international bodies the fact that it had violated our border.”
The U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet, based in Bahrain, denied what it called Iranian “disinformation”. The U.S. Navy said earlier this month that the nuclear-powered, guided-missile submarine Florida was operating in the Middle East in support of its Fifth Fleet.
Iranian and U.S. forces have had a number of confrontations in the past. In early April, the Iranian navy said it had identified and warned of a U.S. reconnaissance plane outside the mouth of the Gulf. In 2019, Iran shot down a U.S. drone which it said was flying over southern Iran.
