TEHRAN, July 25 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) confirmed the earlier reports of U.S. Navy ship's warning shots at an Iranian patrolling boat in the Persian Gulf on Tuesday.
"This morning, a U.S. navy ship moved towards an Iranian patrolling boat in the northern part of the Persian Gulf and, in a provocative and intimidating action, fired two warning shots," the IRGC website said.
However, "the IRGC's vessel, heedless of the provocative and unprofessional action of the U.S. navy, continued its mission and after a short time the U.S. ship left the area," it added.
Earlier on the day, the CNN report said that "the Iranian boat approached and came within 150 yards of the USS Thunderbolt, a U.S. Navy patrol ship in the northern end of the Persian Gulf."
The Iranian vessel did not respond to any warnings from the U.S. ship, including radio calls, firing of flares and five short blasts from the U.S. Navy ship's whistle, the U.S. officials told CNN.
The Navy ship then fired warning shots into the water over concerns about the possibility of a collision and the Iranian ship then ceased its "provocative actions" but lingered in the area for some hours, one of the officials added.
The U.S. Navy and the IRGC have so far had several encounters in the Persian Gulf, but nothing serious has followed their encounter.
