From Jamie McIntyre CNN Senior Pentagon Correspondent [image: Decrease font] [image: Decrease font] [image: Enlarge font] [image: Enlarge font]
*WASHINGTON (CNN)* -- A U.S.-contracted cargo ship fired warning shots in the Persian Gulf at two small patrol boats believed to be from Iran, U.S. Navy officials said Friday. The crew of the "Westward Venture," which was under contract to the U.S. government, reported it radioed a warning and fired flares before resorting to warning shots Thursday, the officials said. The cargo vessel was en route to Kuwait and about 50 miles from the Iranian coast, according the reports. Tensions in the Persian Gulf have been high this year. The United States and Iran, which have no diplomatic relations and blame each other for problems in Iraq <http://www.cnn.com/>, have had at least two other tense incidents in the gulf since January. Earlier this month, the U.S. military reported that three small Iranian boats approached a U.S. patrol craft in a "taunting manner." Two of the boats turned away, but one came within 200 yards of the USS Typhoon, prompting a crew member to fire a warning flare. Through its state-run news agency, Iran <http://topics.cnn.com/topics/Iran>denied reports of the April 10 incident, saying the U.S. media "tries to portray the Persian Gulf as a turbulent area in order to prepare the grounds for the permanent presence of U.S. forces in the region." On January 6, five boats belonging to Iran's Revolutionary Guard "harassed and provoked" three U.S. Navy ships in the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow shipping channel leading in and out of the Persian Gulf<http://topics.cnn.com/topics/Persian_Gulf>, the U.S. military said. Though the U.S. deemed the encounter "significant," an Iranian official told the Islamic Republic News Agency that it was not a serious incident. E-mail to a friend<http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/04/25/iran.shots/index.html?eref=rss_topstories#> [image: E-mail to a friend] -- Be nice to the US or we'll bring democracy to your country! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Adobe® ColdFusion® 8 software 8 is the most important and dramatic release to date Get the Free Trial http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;192386516;25150098;k Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/message.cfm/messageid:259135 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5
