The Maritime Administration of the Transportation in the United States issued a new warning to merchant ships, saying that some ships reported that their GPS was interfered with, concerning the threat of the Iranian regime in the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf.
In addition, the US government has warned that there have been reports of "unidentified entities falsely claiming to be US or coalition warships".
The warning was issued on Wednesday, pointing out a series of events involving Iran since May, including the Iranian regime's seizure of M/V STENA IMPERO flying the Flag of the United Kingdom and the detention and subsequent release of M/V MESDAR flying the Flag of Liberia, reported by CNN.
He said, "At least in the last two 'encounters' involving the Iranian regime's military, ships reported GPS interference. It is reported that a ship shut down its Automatic identification system (AIS) before being detained, which makes the response work more complicated."
The warning added, "These ships also reported deceptive bridge to bridge communication by unknown entities falsely claiming to be US or coalition warships
The United States Central Command, which oversees U.S. military operations in the region, issued a statement on Wednesday saying, "The ship reported GPS interference, bridge to bridge communication deception and/or other communication interference, with little or no warning."
The statement added: "The United States remains committed to working with regional allies and partners to protect Freedom of navigation, free flow of trade, and the security of American ships and personnel in the region."
A US defense official told CNN that the Iranian regime has placed GPS jammers on Abu Musa Island near the entrance of the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf.
The official said that the purpose of the Iranian regime placing signal jammers there is to disrupt civil aviation and naval navigation systems, hoping that ships or aircraft may accidentally enter Iranian waters or airspace when their GPS system malfunctions, providing an excuse for the Iranian military. Catch them.
The official said that Iran's interference aircraft had no impact on US warships and military aircraft.
The official said that the Iranian regime's warships were "deceiving" the Automatic identification system used by merchant ships, marking their ships as merchant ships and masquerading them as merchant ships instead of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) or Islamic Republic of Iran Navy ships.
