U.S. military officials are happy yet perplexed why Iran has ceased its routine harassment of Navy vessels using fast boats in the Persian Gulf, The Wall Street Journal reports.
It has been five months since the Navy's last encounter with an Iranian fast boat after two years of about 50 unsafe and/or unprofessional interactions, the Journal reports.
"I hope it's because we have messaged our readiness … and that it isn't tolerable or how professional militaries operate," said Army Gen. Joseph Votel, head of U.S. Central Command.
But it might not be a coincidence that the incidents ceased around the same time that President Donald Trump has been mulling pulling the U.S. out of the Obama-era nuclear accord with Iran.
But the military won't say that.
“We are not going to speculate on the reason for this recent positive trend in interactions, though we hope it will continue in the future," Cmdr. Bill Urban, spokesman for the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet, told the Journal.
The fast boats are typically manned by members of Iran's elite military unit, the IRCG, the Journal reports, and are armed with rocket launchers and .50 caliber machine guns.
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