US fabricated warship conflict video, claims Iran

Iran today claimed a video of its gunboats harassing American warships in the Persian Gulf was made up.

The US Navy shots from Sunday's incident show small Iranian boats swarming around US warships in the Strait of Hormuz. In the recording, a voice threatened: "I am coming to you. … You will explode after … minutes."

"The footage released by the US Navy was compiled using file pictures and the audio has been fabricated," the Revolutionary Guards said, giving no more details.

The US continued to denounce the incident as "provocative".

"This is a provocative act - not a smart thing to do, and they are going to have to take responsibility for the consequences, if they do it again," National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley said.

In the four-minute, 20-second video released yesterday, the Iranian boats appeared to ignore repeated warnings from the US ships, including horn blasts and radio transmissions, according to the video, which was shot from the bridge of the destroyer USS Hopper.

From the Hopper, after spotting the approaching Iranian boats, a US Navy crew member says over the radio: "This is coalition warship. I am engaged in transit passage in accordance with international law. Intend no harm."

The audio and video recordings were made separately but were pulled together by the Navy. Often uneven and shaky, the video condenses what Navy officials have said was a 20-minute clash.

Iran's Defence Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar insisted there was nothing sinister about the incident.

"The identification of vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz by Iranian Navy units is a natural occurrence," he said.

"Islamic Republic of Iran Navy units always put questions to passing vessels and warships at the Strait of Hormuz and they need to identify themselves. This is in accordance with the normal procedures."

The top Navy commander in the Gulf has disputed Iran's claims that the incident was a routine encounter however, saying Iran's "provocative" actions were "deadly serious".

Vice Admiral Kevin Cosgriff said the Iranian fleet of high-speed boats charged the US warships and threatened to blow up the Navy convoy as it passed near but outside Iranian waters.

The Iranian fleet "manoeuvred aggressively" and then fled as the American ship commanders were preparing to open fire, he said. No shots were fired.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards has said that its high-speed boats never threatened the US vessels during the encounter, insisting it only asked them to identify themselves, then let them continue into the Gulf.

Admiral Cosgriff, the commander of US 5th Fleet, which patrols the Gulf and is based in nearby Bahrain, said the American vessels, which were clearly marked, had been identified by Iranian authorities earlier in the day.