U.S. Reportedly Fired Flares at Copter in Gulf

WASHINGTON — A U.S. Navy cruiser in the Persian Gulf fired flares at an unidentified helicopter last weekend when the aircraft approached and failed to respond to radio warnings, Administration sources said Tuesday.

The helicopter then veered sharply away and finally established radio contact, identifying itself as unarmed and on a supply mission to an oil-drilling platform, the sources added. They said it was apparently en route from the city of Dubayy in the United Arab Emirates.

Public affairs officers for the Navy and Defense Department said they could not comment on the incident because they had not been told of it.

The sources said the incident involved the guided missile cruiser Fox, now the largest warship that the United States has in the gulf, on routine patrol. They declined to say how close the helicopter came to the ship before the flares were fired, saying only that the cruiser’s skipper “exercised good discretion.”

The encounter was the second to be reported in two days involving U.S. Navy ships in the tense gulf, where Iran and Iraq have been attacking shipping in connection with their 6 1/2-year-old war.

Officials disclosed Monday that an Iranian patrol vessel issued a radio challenge to a U.S.-flag cargo ship that was under escort by the American destroyer Conyngham last Friday. The Iranian vessel withdrew when the destroyer answered on behalf of the cargo ship and identified itself as a U.S. warship.

The incidents come at a time when ships assigned to the U.S. Mideast Task Force are operating on a heightened state of alert after the May 17 Iraqi missile attack on the U.S. Navy frigate Stark, which killed 37 sailors. Both countries have characterized that incident as a case of mistaken identity.