Overview

• On July 23 at around 10:00 local time an Iranian military helicopter intercepted the USS Fitzgerald near Tehran’s claimed waters in the Gulf of Oman and compelled it to turn south.
• The destroyer withdrew without reporting any damage or casualties and the Pentagon has declined to issue an official comment.
• According to Iran’s semi-official Tasnim agency, the helicopter pilot asserted full backing from the Islamic Republic’s armed forces and warned of a response to any aggression.
• The incident comes one month after US strikes on Iran’s Fordo, Natanz and Isfahán nuclear sites and reflects mounting US–Iran tensions over Tehran’s nuclear program and sanctions disputes.
• Regional security experts caution that close-range naval encounters in the Gulf of Oman’s chokepoints risk miscalculations that could escalate into a broader conflict.