U.S. Officials said that a Navy war ship fired three warning shots on an Iranian boat that was approaching another U.S. vessel head-on in the North Arabian Gulf.

According to U.S. Navy Cmdr. Bill Urban, the Iranian boat came within 200 yards of the USS Tempest and ignored several bridge-to-bridge radio calls and warning flares. It finally turned away after the USS Squall, which was with the USS Tempest, fired three warning shots from its .50-caliber gun, said Urban, a spokesman for the Navy's 5th Fleet.

"This situation presented a drastically increased risk of collision, and the Iranian vessel refused to safely maneuver in accordance with internationally recognized maritime rules of the road," said Urban.

This was not the only encounter U.S. ships had with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard on Wednesday.

The same Iranian boat that harassed the USS Tempest also crossed in front of the USS Stout three times at a high rate of speed on Wednesday in the same region. Urban called it an "unsafe intercept" and said the USS Stout, a guided missile destroyer, had to maneuver to avoid a collision.

In the third incident, three Iranian boats crossed in front of the USS Tempest at high speed, coming within 600 yards of the ship. The Tempest and the Squall are patrol ships.

The Tasnim news agency quoted Gen. Hosein Dehghan as saying: "if any foreign vessel enters our waters, we warn them, and if it's an invasion, we confront." He also said that Iranian boats patrol to monitor traffic and foreign vessels in its waters.