Helicopter footage of the exercise released by Iran’s navy showed what resembled an Ohio-class guided-missile submarine, the USS Georgia, which the U.S. Navy last month said had been sent to the Persian Gulf.
The unusual transit in the Persian Gulf's shallow waters comes some two weeks before the anniversary of the American drone strike in January that killed a top Iranian military commander.
The U.S. accuses the group of trying to overthrow Bahrain’s government and plotting terrorist attacks on Americans in the country, which is home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet.
A boarding team from the Churchill transited the Iranian vessel before carrying out an initial seaworthiness inspection and providing the crew with food and water.
“There is a concerted effort to build mil-to-mil relationships between many of the partners we work with and the PLA [People’s Liberation Army of China],” said the 5th SFAB commander.
A federal appeals court in New Orleans upheld the constitutionality of the all-male military draft system Thursday, citing a 1981 U.S. Supreme Court decision.