U.S. Navy Fires on Vessel in Persian Gulf; One Dead

(Newsroom America) -- A U.S. Navy warship opened fire on a vessel in the Persian Gulf Tuesday, killing one person and wounding three others on board, reports said.

ABC News quoted Lt. Greg Raelson, a spokesperson for the Navy's 5th Fleet, who said a security team aboard the U.S.N.S. Rappahannock filed a .50 caliber machine gun at a "small motor vessel after it disregarded warnings and rapidly approached the U.S. ship" off the coast of Jebel Ali, which is 30 miles from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

The report said Navy officials have launched an investigation into the incident with the UAE. The vessel attacked was described as a white pleasure craft by defense officials, though two UAE officials told ABC News it was a fishing boat with four Indians and two Emiratis on board.

Official UAE news sources identified the man who was killed as Indian.

The report said there was no indication thus far the incident was a terrorist attack.

Iranian boats tend to harass U.S. warships in that manner - by rapidly approaching them. But U.S. defense officials were adamant that the vessel involved was not Iranian.

Other officials said the vessel approaching the Rappahannock was "approaching at a high rate of speed" and "on a deliberate approach," ABC News said.

A Navy official said the boat was "on a course that would have caused it to impact the Rappahanock... It wasn't just close, it was on a course that would have ultimately taken it to impact."

Tensions in the Persian Gulf have risen in recent weeks following threats by Iran to close a strategic waterway, the Strait of Hormuz.

In response to escalating tensions, the Pentagon has ordered the U.S. carrier, USS John C. Stennis, to the region four months earlier than originally scheduled. It will replace the USS Enterprise, which is currently on station there.

On Sunday, the U.S.S. Eisenhower replaced the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln in the region, ABC News reported.

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