Washington: According to a statement from U.S. Central Command, an Iranian patrol boat flashed its spotlight at the bridges of two Navy ships on Monday in the Strait of Hormuz, blinding the crews and resulting in a "unsafe and unprofessional" incident, according to U.S. military officials.

The USS Lewis B. Puller expeditionary sea base platform ship and the USS The Sullivans guided-missile destroyer were transiting in international waters on Monday night when a patrol boat from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy approached them, according to a CENTCOM statement released Tuesday. The patrol boat then lit up both ships' bridges with its spotlight.

Then, within 150 yards, the IRGC Navy boat crossed in front of the two ships, which CENTCOM deemed "dangerously close — especially at night." An elite military force in Iran, the IRGC Navy is closely associated with the country's supreme leader, Ali Khamenei.

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Army Col. Joe Buccino, a CENTCOM spokesman, said in the statement that "this dangerous action in international waters is indicative of Iran's destabilising activity across the Middle East."

Buccino claimed that after issuing an audible warning and employing nonlethal lasers, the American ships were able to flee the situation without it worsening. According to him, the Iranian boat's actions violated international maritime law and put ships at risk of "collision and miscalculation."

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The Strait of Hormuz, which connects Oman and Iran to the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman, frequently sees interactions between U.S. Navy ships and Iranian navy ships. Longtime interactions between IRGC Navy ships and American ships have been alleged to involve unsafe and careless manoeuvres by U.S. military officials.

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Iran is the Middle East country that poses the greatest threat to American forces and interests, according to CENTCOM officials in recent years. Iranian militias that are in control of Iraq and Syria have long been accused by U.S. officials of targeting