The Trump administration's response to a naval confrontation with Iran could indicate what is in store for U.S.-Iranian relations.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Navy and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy squared off again in the Strait of Hormuz. According to the Pentagon, four Iranian vessels approached the USS Mahan at a high rate of speed and came less than nine hundred yards from the boat without making any radio contact. U.S. sailors aboard the USS Mahan had to fire off three warning shots from one of the ship’s .50 caliber machine guns before the Iranian vessels changed course and moved away. U.S. Navy officials described the actions of the Iranian vessels as “unsafe and unprofessional.”
