U.S. accuses Iran of ‘dangerous’ harassment of US warships
A group of 11 Iranian naval vessels made “dangerous and harassing” maneuvers near U.S. ships in the North Arabian Sea on April 15, in one case passing within 10 yards of a U.S. Coast Guard cutter, U.S. officials said.
In a written statement, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command said the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps vessels repeatedly crossed the bows and sterns of several American ships at close range and high speed.
In the group of U.S. ships was the USS Paul Hamilton, a Navy destroyer, and the USS Lewis B. Puller, a ship that serves as an afloat landing base. The U.S. ships were operating with U.S. Army Apache attack helicopters in international waters, the statement said.
The “dangerous and provocative actions increased the risk of miscalculation and collision, were not in accordance with the internationally recognized Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea `rules of the road’ or internationally recognized maritime customs, and were not in accordance with the obligation under international law to act with due regard for the safety of other vessels in the area,” the statement said.
The Americans issued multiple warnings via bridge-to-bridge radio, five short blasts from the ships’ horns and long-range acoustic noise maker devices, but received no immediate response, the U.S. statement said. After about an hour, the Iranian vessels responded to the bridge-to-bridge radio queries, then maneuvered away. AP
Russia clashes with Europeans over Syria chemical weapons
Syria’s close ally Russia clashed with European nations in the U.N. Security Council April 15 over a report from the global chemical weapons watchdog blaming the Syrian air force for a series of attacks using sarin and chlorine on a rebel-held town in 2017.
Moscow dismissed it as “baseless” and the Europeans demanded accountability for the government’s action.
An investigative team of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said in a 82-page report issued April 8 that the Syrian air force dropped bombs containing either chlorine or sarin on a hospital and open farmland in the central town of Latamneh, injuring over 70 people and killing at least three — a surgeon and two others.
The exchanges between Russia and the Europeans took place at the monthly meeting on Syria’s chemical weapons, which was closed. Russia, Germany, Britain and Estonia distributed the statements of their ambassadors.
U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said U.N. disarmament chief Izumi Nakamitusu briefed the council, including on the findings of the OPCW report, and stressed that they were “deeply distressing.”
The investigative team concluded that “there are reasonable grounds” to believe the perpetrators in Latamneh of the use of sarin on March 24 and 30, and chlorine on March 25, 2017, were part of the Syrian Arab Air Force, OPCW coordinator Santiago Onate-Laborde said. AP
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