Adjunct Professor Lawrence Brennan was quoted in Business Insider about the recent encounter between an Iranian naval vessel and a US Navy helicopter.
While nobody was injured, the laser could have caused a catastrophic crash for the Marines onboard, and there’s no reason for Iran to do it besides messing with the US military or testing its resolve.
“Perhaps this was a probing effort by Iran to determine US response and the rules of engagement,” Lawrence Brennan, a former US Navy captain and an expert of maritime law at Fordham University, told Business Insider.
The Iranian navy has long engaged in provocative, aggressive maneuvers towards US Navy ships. In March, the USS Mahan, a guided-missile destroy, had to fire warning shots at a group of fast-approaching Iranian navy ships.The danger of Iran’s small attack craft was underscored when a similar type of ship was modified into a suicide boat used by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen to damage a Saudi Arabian naval vessel.
“At least 36 incidents have been made public, including eight this year,” Brennan said.