Facts

• The US Navy and the UK's Royal Navy said their sailors came to the aid of a ship in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday afternoon, after reports that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC) “harassed” the vessel.^[1]
• According to a US statement, three fast-attack IRGC vessels with armed troops aboard approached a commercial ship at a close distance Sunday afternoon in the Strait of Hormuz. The US Navy provided black-and-white images it said came from a US Navy Boeing P-8 Poseidon overhead, showing three small boats nearby to the commercial vessel.^[2]
• The US Navy guided-missile destroyer USS McFaul and the UK Royal Navy frigate HMS Lancaster both reportedly received the distress call. The Lancaster deployed a helicopter for observation and directed a maritime patrol aircraft to monitor the incident.^[3]
• The Navy said that “the situation deescalated approximately an hour later when the merchant vessel confirmed the fast-attack craft departed the scene," and that the ship continued "without further incident."^[4]
• This interaction is the latest among other maritime situations after Washington's withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018.^[5]