The number of unsafe incidents in the Persian Gulf that involved both Iranian vessels and US Navy almost doubled in the first six months of 2016 if to compare with the same period of 2015, US media reported.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) � The vessels of the two states had dangerously interacted 19 times in the first half of 2016 and only 10 in the same period of 2015, the Fox News broadcaster reported citing a US defense official, speaking on conditions of anonymity.

The broadcaster added that since July there had been 11 more confrontations between the navies of the two countries in the region. On August 23, two Iranian naval vessels approached within 300 yards of the US destroyer Nitze while transiting waters near the Strait of Hormuz, according to the US Central Command (CENTCOM).

By Sputnik News