U.S.-contracted ship fires toward Iranian boat

25 April 2008

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A cargo ship contracted by the U.S Military Sealift Command has fired at least one shot toward an Iranian boat, a U.S. defense official said on Friday.

"It was an MSC vessel," the official said, confirming the ship fired on an Iranian boat.

Other details were not immediately available. A spokeswoman for the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain did not have any immediate comment.

The United States in January said Iranian boats threatened its warships on January 6 along a vital route for crude oil shipments.