Iran’s Navy Denies Report of Laser Training at US Copter

TEHRAN (defapress) – A top commander of Iran’s Navy denied reports that the country’s naval forces had pointed a laser at an airborne US Marine Corps helicopter in the Strait of Hormuz back in June.

News ID: 65316

Date: 16 July 2017 - 14:35

Commander of Iran's First Naval Zone Admiral Hossein Azad categorically denied reports of such incident.

Last month, media outlets quoted US military officials as saying that Iranian forces have trained laser at an airborne Marine Corps helicopter in the Strait of Hormuz in an encounter that involved three US ships.

According to Navy Commander Bill Urban, a US military spokesman, the amphibious assault ship Bataan, the guided-missile destroyer Cole and the dry cargo ship Washington Chambers had been maneuvering through the strait on June 13 when an Iranian vessel pulled alongside the US ships, shining a spotlight on the Cole and then training a laser on a CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter flown by Marines from the Bataan.

American military officials had described the alleged action as "unsafe and unprofessional."

Iran has always been against the presence of foreign powers in the Persian Gulf.

In December 2015, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei underlined that security of the Persian Gulf region comes within the purview of the regional countries alone, and dismissed the US claim of seeking security in the region.

Also in 2016, the Leader hammered the US for its schemes against Iran’s military presence in the Persian Gulf and made it clear that the Islamic Republic will continue to demonstrate power at its home, the Persian Gulf.

"The Persian Gulf is the Iranian nation’s home…, and the coasts of the Persian Gulf and large parts of the Sea of Oman coasts belong to this strong nation,” Imam Khamenei said in May 2016.