FILE PHOTO: Three Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN) vessel, some of several to maneuver in what the U.S. Navy says are “unsafe and unprofessional actions against U.S. Military ships by crossing the ships’ bows and sterns at close range” is seen next to expeditionary mobile sea base USS Lewis B. Puller in a still image from video taken in the Gulf April 15, 2020. U.S. Navy/Handout via REUTERS
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Navy on Tuesday issued a warning to mariners to stay 100 meters (yards) away from U.S. warships or risk being “interpreted as a threat and subject to lawful defensive measures.”
Reuters is first to report the new warning, issued in detail in a notice to mariners. It follows a threat by U.S. President Donald Trump last month, in which he instructed the U.S. Navy to fire on any Iranian ships that harass American vessels.
A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the new notice to mariners was not a change in the U.S. military’s rules of engagement.
Reporting by Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali; Editing by Sandra Maler