Pentagon Sees No Need For Deconfliction Holtine With Iran's IRGC - Spokesperson

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 04th May, 2021) The US military has neither the need nor the appetite to set up a deconfliction communication channel with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) despite recent tensions with its vessels in the Persian Gulf, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Monday.

"I don't believe that there a need... no appetite for any sort of of operational or strategic communication between us and the IRGC. We have diplomatic channels that we work through appropriately to communicate our displeasure to Tehran," Kirby said during a briefing.

The Defense Department reported that IRGC boats have swarmed US ships in the Persian Gulf in recent weeks and in one instance a US vessel fired warning shots to fend off harassing activities.

Kirby said that both sides had the ability to communicate throughout those incidents by via bridge-to-bridge radio.

"There were radio communications throughout those incidents with those IRGC boats and commanders on those boats repeatedly warning them about what they were doing. So you don't need a hot line with the IRGC to communicate and you can do it in real time," he said.

The incidents did not turn violent, but they were "unnecessary, unsafe and certainly unprofessional," Kirby added.