U.S. Cargo Ship Fires on armed iranian speedboats.
The Westward Venture was travelling north in international waters in the central Gulf at around 8am local time on Thursday when the incident took place.
The cargo ship is part of the U.S Military Sealift Command, or MSC, and these ships make up the backbone of the U.S. Military's supply line around the world.
After the boats failed to respond to radio queries and a warning flare, the cargo ship's onboard security team fired "a few bursts" of machine gun and rifle warning shots, according to Cmdr. Lydia Robertson, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Navy's Bahrain-based Fifth Fleet.
"The small boats left the area a short time later," she said by telephone. "They were able to avoid a serious incident by following the procedures that we use."
Iran's president, herr whos-its, is a classic three year old - pressing the big dog's buttons knowing full well mommy & daddy are occupied and stressed elsewhere. And when the paddling comes (not if, when), the world's going to scream bloody murder at these 'ruthless Americans' picking on poor, poor, defenseless and innocent iran.
The incident was reported as America's top military officer charged Iran with increasing its support for Iraqi militias with weapons and training used to kill U.S. troops.
Tensions in the region have risen this year. In January, the United States said Iranian boats aggressively approached three U.S. Navy battle ships, warning them they would explode in minutes.
In March, another U.S. military-chartered ship preparing to cross the Suez Canal fired warning shots at a small boat, killing an Egyptian on board.