No Change in IRGC Navy patrols in Persian Gulf

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Spokesman Ramezan Sharif said Monday there has been no change in the IRGC Navy’s routine patrols in the Persian Gulf. On July 8, US President Donald Trump tweeted US Navy statistics reporting “zero harassment” of US ships by the Iranian Navy in 2018, which stood in contrast with 36 such occurrences in 2016. “Confrontation with US warships has occurred time and again, the last instance being the arrest of American marines and their subsequent apology,” Sharif said, Mehr News Agency reported. In January 2016, the IRGC Navy seized two US Navy combat vessels that had entered Iran’s territorial waters in the Persian Gulf, capturing 10 US marines who were later released after Tehran said Washington had apologized over the incident. While it appeared that Trump was trying to imply that his intimidation and bullying had something to do with the lack of confrontation between the Iranian and American navies after  he came to office in 2016. However, Iran maintains that the semblance of normalcy is largely because of the US decision to curtail its own illegal naval activities and lawlessness in the strategic waterway.