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Recordings Detail U.S.-Iranian Clash

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By LOLITA C. BALDOR and SEBASTIAN ABBOT, The Associated Press

Published: January 9, 2008

WASHINGTON - Small Iranian fast boats swarmed around massive U.S. warships in the Persian Gulf, and a man speaking heavily accented English threatened, "I am coming to you. ... You will explode," according to a video released Tuesday by the Pentagon.

The Iranian boats appear to ignore repeated warnings from the U.S. ships, including horn blasts and radio transmissions, as the ships moved through the Strait of Hormuz into the Gulf.

In a four-minute, 20-second video, shot from the bridge of the destroyer USS Hopper, the small boats can be seen racing near the wake of the U.S. ships and crossing close to each other.

From the Hopper's bridge, after spotting the approaching Iranian boats, a Navy crew member says over the radio: "This is coalition warship. I am engaged in transit passage in accordance with international law. I intend no harm. Over."

Often uneven and shaky, the video condenses what Navy officials have said was a 20-minute or so clash early Sunday between three Navy warships and five Iranian fast boats. It ends with a blank screen, as only the audio of the Navy's final warning can be heard, just after the accented voice warns that they are coming.

"Inbound small craft: You are approaching a coalition warship operating in international waters. Your identity is not known; your intentions are unclear," the unidentified Navy crew member says. He then cautions the Iranians that if they do not steer clear they will be "subject to defensive measures."

After a pause, the man with the accent issues a final threat: "You will explode after indecipherable minutes."

A Navy crew member then repeated the threat as he heard it: "He says, 'You will explode after a few minutes,'" as the tape ends.

President Bush on Tuesday called the incident a "provocative act."

"It is a dangerous situation," Bush said during a White House news conference. "I don't know what their thinking was, but I'm telling you what my thinking was. I think it was a provocative act."

The audio and video recordings were made separately but were pulled together by the Navy.

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