Iranians playing chicken with US warships - US wins.

Hearing about an Iranian speedboats swarming US ships moving through the Straits of Hormuz while having my first cup of coffee does not make for a good start to our Monday. Neither did this:

Crude oil rose above $98 a barrel in New York after CNN reported the confrontation.

Reading this makes me feel better. It looks like the US was doing a little swarming itself - only with damn warships not speedboats Nine US Warships in Gulf for show of force.

U.S. Navy officials said Iran was not notified of plans to sail nine ships, including two aircraft carriers, through the Straits of Hormuz, a narrow channel in international waters off Iran's coast and a major artery for global oil shipments.

-snip-

Most U.S. ships pass through the straits at night so as not to attract attention, and rarely move in such large numbers.

Navy officials said the decision to send a second aircraft carrier was made at the last minute, without giving a reason.

Bwa-ha-ha.

And about that speedboat swarming and some of the tactics the Iranians employed? (ooh, this makes me want to squash them like a bug!)

In a radio transmission, one of the Iranians had said: “I’m coming at you and you will blow up in a couple of minutes.”

“It is the most serious provocation of this sort that we’ve seen yet,” said one Pentagon official.

The incident occurred at about 5 am local time on Sunday as a US Navy cruiser, destroyer and frigate were crossing the strait on their way into the Gulf.

“Five small boats were acting in a very aggressive way, charging the ships, dropping boxes in the water in front of the ships and causing our ships to take evasive manoeuvres,” the Pentagon official said. “There were no injuries but there very well could have been.”

Update: From Fars

US officials have not yet explained why their warships disturbed tranquility of the very sensitive region by patrolling in an area adjacent to the Iranian borders in the deeply strategic Strait of Hormuz which links the Persian Gulf to the Sea of Oman, the only passage for tankers and trade ships traveling from the Eastern to the Western world.

Heh.