From Deutsche Welle:
US Secretary of Defence Robert Gates has said that Iran acted recklessly when five Iranian speed boats swarmed three US warships and threatened to blow them up in the Strait of Hormuz on Monday. The Iranians dropped boxes in the path of one vessel but retreated just before a naval commander on one of the US warships was about to issue an order to fire. The Iranian government has dismissed the encounter, saying it was “something normal”. Gates said the strait was a volatile area and the chance of a military incident was escalating. Almost a quarter of the world’s crude oil passes through the strait.
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In San Diego, Secreatary Gates was interviewed by the Union-Tribune.
“The risk of an incident or an incident escalating is real,” he said, describing the Tehran regime as very unpredictable. “I can’t imagine what was on their minds.”
Five Revolutionary Guard speedboats repeatedly charged toward a Navy cruiser, destroyer and frigate in the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf, dropping boxes in front of the U.S. ships and reportedly transmitting a radio message in which they threatened to blow up the Americans.
The three Navy ships were about to open fire when the five Iranian speedboats veered off at the last moment and raced away.
The Revolutionary Guards are a parallel military force within Iran, formed after the Islamic revolution there in 1979. They have their own ground, naval and air units, and are suspected by Washington of providing active support to terrorist groups in the Middle East.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry later characterized the incident as a case of mistaken identity, saying the speedboat crews turned away once they recognized the warships as American.
“It would be nice to see the Iranian government disavow this action and say it won’t happen again,” the secretary said.
Sources:
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/function/0,,12215_cid_3046481,00.html?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20080107-1352-bn07gates.html
