Iran: Hormuz ship incident U.S. "psychological, propaganda campaign"

TEHRAN, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Parliament Speaker Gholam Ali Haddad Adel has called U.S. accusations in the recent confrontation between U.S. and Iranian ships in the Strait of Hormuz as a "psychological and propaganda campaign," local Tehran Times daily reported on Wednesday.

"We have always shown that we believe in peace and avoiding tension, and we presume that the U.S. media propaganda is part of its psychological and propaganda campaign, which it is continuously conducting against Iran," Adel was quoted as saying on Tuesday.

"If one side should charge others of meddling in this region, that side would be Iran, because, unlike the Americans, who came from thousands of kilometers away and stationed their navy ships in the Gulf, we are a natural neighbor of this waterway," he said.

The U.S. Pentagon said Monday that five Iranian boats had harassed and threatened three U.S. Navy warships in international waters in the Strait of Hormuz.

Bush administration officials immediately warned Iran to refrain from taking "provocative actions that could lead to a dangerous incident in the future."

But Iran responded by calling the incident "something normal" and said the incident has been resolved.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- Five Iranian Revolutionary Guardboats "seriously provoked" three U.S. warships in the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend, the Pentagon said Monday. Full story

WASHINGTON, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. White House warned on Monday Iran to refrain from taking "provocative actions that could lead to a dangerous incident in the future." Full story

TEHRAN, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- Iran on Tuesday denied its Revolutionary guards boats had threatened to blow up U.S. navy ships in the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend, saying what happened between the two sides was just a "routine" action to identify each other. Full story

TEHRAN, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini on Monday played down an incident between Iranian boats and U.S. naval ships in the strategic Strait of Hormuz over the weekend, saying it was "something normal", the official IRNA news agency reported. Full story