On Tuesday, the Pentagon said a US Coast Guard vessel had fired a warning shot after a tense encounter with an Iranian fishing boat in the Persian Gulf.
It claimed that the patrol vessel, Monomoy, fired the warning shot after a machine gun on the Iranian dhow aimed at US forces.
Reacting to the report, IRCG Navy Commander Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi told the Tasnim News Agency on Thursday that “no specific encounter” has taken place in the Persian Gulf waters.
“The Americans sensed danger and were frightened of a fishing vessel, and such move by them is certainly natural,” he explained.
The commander noted that US forces fired a shot skyward at a distance of three miles away the Iranian boat.
Pentagon Spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby had announced earlier that the Iranian fishing boat pulled away following the shot and nobody was hurt.
Iran is now the main power providing security in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, ensuring the safe passage of energy supplies through the strategic region.
The Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway between Iran and Oman, connects the Persian Gulf with the Sea of Oman.