Late last month, amid heightened tensions between Washington and Tehran, Iran conducted a live-fire exercise [5] in the Strait of Hormuz in close proximity to the USS Harry Truman, one of Ash Carter’s fleet of aircraft carriers.
The US called the incident a “provocation” as the rockets landed a mere 1,500 yards from two US ships.
"Firing weapons so close to passing coalition ships and commercial traffic within an internationally recognized maritime traffic lane is unsafe, unprofessional, and inconsistent with international maritime law," US CentCom said, in a statement.
The brazen move infuriated US lawmakers opposed to the Iran nuclear accord. John McCain for instance, accused The White House of “turning a blind eye to Iranian saber rattling for fear Iran will walk away from the nuclear deal.”
The maritime mishap came amid (loud) calls for fresh sanctions [6] against Tehran in connection with Iran’s test of a next gen surface-to-surface ballistic missile (the Emad [7]).
On Saturday, the US released footage of the Iranian rocket drill in a conveniently-timed move that coincides with a historic spat [8] between Tehran and Washington’s allies in Riyadh. The video is below.
