The United States Navy’s Fifth Fleet denied an Iranian claim on Thursday that the Islamic Republic’s navy forced a U.S. submarine to surface as it entered the Persian Gulf.

“The U.S. submarine was approaching while submerged, but the Iranian submarine ‘Fateh’ detected it and carried out… maneuvers to force it to surface as it went through the Strait (of Hormuz),” Iranian navy commander Shahram Irani told state television.

“It had also entered into our territorial waters but … it corrected its course after being warned,” he continued.

“This submarine was doing its best, using all its capacities, to pass in total silence and without being detected. We will certainly reflect to international bodies the fact that it had violated our border.”

The U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet, based in Bahrain, denied what it called Iranian “disinformation.”

“A U.S. submarine has not transited the Strait of Hormuz today or recently,” U.S. Navy Commander Timothy Hawkins told Reuters. “The claim represents more Iranian disinformation that does not contribute to regional maritime security and stability.”

Iranian and U.S. forces have had a number of confrontations in the past, with the most recent in early April when the Iranian navy said it identified and warned off a U.S. reconnaissance plane outside the mouth of the Gulf. Also earlier this month, the U.S. Navy said the nuclear-powered, guided-missile submarine “Florida” was operating in the Middle East to support its Fifth Fleet. –i24 News