TEHRAN, June 5 (Xinhua) -- An Iranian naval commander has rejected a U.S. claim that Iranian speedboats "harassed" a commercial ship in the Strait of Hormuz, calling it "an absolute lie," the official news agency IRNA reported.
Abbas Gholamshahi, the commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy's First Zone, made the remarks in response to a Monday report by The Associated Press, which quoted the U.S. Navy as saying in a statement that its sailors and Britain's Royal Navy aided a ship "intimidated" by three fast-attack IRGC vessels in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday.
The Associated Press identified the vessel as the "Marshall Islands-flagged bulk carrier Venture," claiming that it "erratically changed course" while traveling through the Strait of Hormuz at the time of the incident.
Gholamshahi said the IRGC naval forces "responded positively" to the distress call from the foreign ship in the Strait of Hormuz and removed its worries through a radio contact with the ship.
After the resolution of the issue, the ship continued its route, he added.
No transregional vessel was present in the position from which the ship's distress call was sent and any other claim is "an absolute lie," the Iranian commander noted. ■
