{"id":35881,"date":"2020-05-20T03:48:48","date_gmt":"2020-05-20T03:48:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/05\/20\/us-navy-issues-new-distance-guidelines-for-vessels-after-close-encounters-with-iranian-ships\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T19:38:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:38:09","slug":"us-navy-issues-new-distance-guidelines-for-vessels-after-close-encounters-with-iranian-ships","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/flashpoints\/2020\/05\/20\/us-navy-issues-new-distance-guidelines-for-vessels-after-close-encounters-with-iranian-ships\/","title":{"rendered":"US Navy issues new distance guidelines for vessels after close encounters with Iranian ships"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<style>.embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; }<\/style><div class='embed-container'><iframe src='https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/f4KXhzgKjYU' frameborder='0' allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">DUBAI, United Arab Emirates \u2014 The U.S. Navy warned Tuesday it will take \u201clawful defensive measures\u201d against vessels in the Mideast that come within 100 meters (yards) of its warships, offering specific guidelines after a recent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/2020\/04\/15\/11-islamic-revolutionary-guard-corps-vessels-harass-us-warships-in-the-persian-gulf\/\" target=_blank>close encounter with Iranian vessels<\/a> in the Persian Gulf. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Defensive measures have typically included turning a ship away from the approaching vessel, sounding its horn, shooting off flares and ultimately firing warning shots to force the vessel away. But offering a specific distance is new for the Navy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOur ships are conducting routine operations in international waters wherever international law allows and do not seek conflict,\u201d said Cmdr. Rebecca Rebarich, a Bahrain-based 5th Fleet spokeswoman. \u201cHowever, our commanding officers retain the right to self-defense if deemed necessary.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While 100 meters may seem far, it\u2019s incredibly close for large warships that have difficulty in turning quickly, like aircraft carriers. <\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2020\/04\/19\/iran-acknowledges-revolutionary-guard-encounter-with-us-during-persian-gulf-drill\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP20107128260134.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Iran acknowledges Revolutionary Guard encounter with US during Persian Gulf drill<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Iran\u2019s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard acknowledged Sunday it had a tense encounter with U.S. warships in the Persian Gulf last week, but alleged without offering evidence that American forces sparked the incident.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The U.S. Navy has years of experience with Iranian forces getting that close, namely the hard-line, paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. Their armed speedboats routinely cut across their paths when going through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which 20% of all oil passes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Tensions have been high between Iran and the U.S. ever since President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from Tehran\u2019s nuclear deal with world powers in 2018. Last summer saw a series of escalating attacks targeting oil tankers and other sites around the Persian Gulf. It reached a crescendo in January with the U.S. drone strike in Baghdad that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/2020\/04\/21\/american-troops-had-only-hours-to-react-to-iranian-ballistic-missile-attack-heres-what-they-did\/\" target=_blank>an Iranian ballistic missile strike of American forces<\/a> in Iraq in retaliation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Those tensions had been expected to rise after Iran\u2019s government overcame the initial chaos that engulfed its response to the coronavirus pandemic. In April, the U.S. accused Iran of conducting \u201cdangerous and harassing\u201d maneuvers near American warships in the northern Persian Gulf. Iran also had been suspected of briefly seizing a Hong Kong-flagged oil tanker just before that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In April, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2020\/04\/23\/iran-guard-commander-threatens-us-navy-after-trump-tweet\/\" target=_blank>Trump warned on Twitter<\/a>: \u201cI have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The U.S. Navy warned Tuesday it will take &#8220;lawful defensive measures&#8221; against vessels in the Mideast that come within 100 meters (yards) of its warships, offering specific guidelines after a recent close encounter with Iranian vessels in the Persian Gulf.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":52255,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":8,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[100,8,23,93,12,25],"tags":[],"coauthors":[1081],"class_list":["post-35881","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-flashpoints","category-home","category-middle-column","category-news","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"YRNIGJ3Y4ZG2XNPVWY244OWYEQ","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-navy\/2020\/05\/19\/us-navy-issues-new-distance-guidelines-for-vessels-after-close-encounters-with-iranian-ships\/","remove_feature_photo":true,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>US Navy issues new distance guidelines for vessels after close encounters with Iranian ships - Army Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The U.S. Navy warned Tuesday it will take &quot;lawful defensive measures&quot; against vessels in the Mideast that come within 100 meters (yards) of its warships, offering specific guidelines after a recent close encounter with Iranian vessels in the Persian Gulf.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"US Navy issues new distance guidelines for vessels after close encounters with Iranian ships\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" 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