US navy fires warning shots as Iranian vessel speeds towards them

The US navy has fired warning shots at an Iranian vessel when it brushed within 150 yards of them in the Gulf.

The Iranian vessel sped towards the US patrol boat named Thunderbolt, ignoring radio calls, flares and the ship's whistle, according to an unnamed US official.

At the time, the Thunderbolt was surrounded by several US Coast Guard vessels.

US Naval Forces Central Command has said the Iranian vessel stopped it's unsafe approach after the shots were fired.

The Iranian vessel is thought to have been part of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and is believed to have been armed, although the US said the weapons were unmanned.

But in a statement issued via the IRGC's news site Sepah, it was the American "battleship" which moved towards one of Iran's patrol boats.

The statement said the US fired two shots into the air, adding that both vessels were in international waters at the time.

It is not the first time since Donald Trump became president for the US and Iran to come too close for comfort.

A US vessel fired a flare on one occasion, and in March, a US Navy ship was forced to change course after multiple fast-attack vessels from the IRGC got too close.

During the presidential campaign, Mr Trump vowed that any Iranian vessels that harass the US Navy in the Gulf would be "shot out of the water".