U.S. Navy fears small Iranian boats

18.02.2012

Nerves were strained as an Iranian patrol boat approached the USS Abraham Lincoln at speed. A helicopter escort hovered above the vessel in a warning not to get any closer, and the grey boat, tiny compared to the massive U.S. aircraft carrier, eventually turned around.

The encounter involving U.S. and Iranian boats, common in recent weeks, underscores rising tensions in the Gulf region between rival powers since Tehran threatened to close the Hormuz Strait, the world's most important oil shipping waterway, over Western moves to ban Iranian crude exports.

U.S. and Iranian warships shadow each other as they ply the Gulf in a standoff over Iran's nuclear program the West fears is aimed at producing an atomic weapon. Many fear any incident could trigger a war.