A high-stakes US Navy attempt to sail two guided-missile destroyers through the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday ended in a humiliating retreat after Iranian forces intercepted the vessels and issued a 30-minute ultimatum to turn back.
Iran said the USS Michael Murphy (DDG 112) and USS Frank E Peterson (DDG 121) – both Arleigh Burke-class destroyers – attempted a high-risk transit of the strategic waterway in a failed propaganda operation timed to coincide with Iran-US talks in Islamabad.
When the American destroyers and their accompanying frigates reached the mouth of the Persian Gulf, Iranian coastal defence systems activated. Cruise missiles locked onto the vessels, and attack drones were deployed to shadow their movements.
"The destroyers were only a few minutes away from complete destruction," a military-security source told Press TV. "Iranian forces gave them exactly 30 minutes to reverse course. They complied immediately."
The US vessels, realising they had been detected and targeted, aborted the transit and retreated without completing passage through the strait.
According to Press TV, the US Navy attempted to use electronic warfare measures to evade detection. This included disabling the ships' Automatic Identification System (AIS) and other position-reporting protocols in an effort to mask their approach from Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) naval surveillance.
The tactic failed. Iranian radar and coastal monitoring systems maintained continuous tracking of the flotilla throughout its approach.
"The IRGC Navy has full situational awareness in the Strait of Hormuz," the source explained. "Attempts to operate covertly in these waters are not only futile – they are dangerously provocative."
The IRGC also released a video of the retreat of the US Navy destroyers.