US lodges formal protest with Iran
WASHINGTON (AP) - January 10, 2008 The protest, which repeats public U.S. complaints about the
"provocative" action, was sent to the Iranian Foreign Ministry
through the Swiss Embassy in Tehran, which represents U.S.
interests in Iran, deputy spokesman Tom Casey told reporters. He
could not say if the Iranians had actually received and
acknowledged receipt of the protest.
"We have ... prepared and given to the Swiss a diplomatic note
formally protesting this incident," he said. "It reiterates the
points that we have made publicly in the last few days."
"We certainly don't want to see the Iranians taking any kind of
provocative actions or provocative steps against our ships or
against any ships that are transiting what is a primary
international waterway," Casey said.
He dismissed Iranian claims that there was nothing unusual about
Sunday's incident in the Strait of Hormuz as well as a videotape
aired by Iranian television on Thursday that appeared to be an
attempt to show that there was not a confrontation between the
vessels.
"We all understand what happened in this incident," Casey
said.
The Pentagon maintains that Iranian naval speedboats swarmed
around U.S. warships in a threatening manner and released its own
video of the incident in which a man in accented English says, "I
am coming to you. ... You will explode after ... minutes."
President Bush has warned Iran not to repeat such actions, which
he said would draw "serious consequences."
Iran denies its boats threatened the U.S. vessels, and accused
Washington of fabricating its video. The Pentagon has dismissed
that claim and warned that its ships would respond with force if
threatened.
The grainy 5-minute, 20-second Iranian video shows a man
speaking into a handheld radio, with three U.S. ships floating in
the distance. It appeared to be shot from a small boat bobbing at
least 100 yards from the American warships. But the footage does
not show any Iranian boats approaching the U.S. vessels or any
provocation.
The entire incident lasted about 20 minutes, according to the
U.S. Navy, and a Pentagon official said that while the Iranian
video appeared to have been taken around the time of the
confrontation, controversial parts had been edited out.
The clip aired on Iran's state-run English-language channel
Press TV, whose signal is often blocked inside Iran. It also aired
on the state-run Al-Alam Arabic channel, with an announcer saying
the video showed "a routine and regular measure."
The incident, which ended without any shots fired, has
heightened U.S.-Iranian tension as Bush visits the region. Bush was
in the West Bank on Thursday, and heads next to Arab Gulf nations
where he is expected to discuss strategy on Iran.