Story highlights Five armed Iranian craft were involved

The incident took place in the Arabian Gulf

(CNN) The four-star commander of the U.S. Central Command got an unexpected, up close and personal look Monday at the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy when a U.S. Navy warship he was on was approached by five armed Iranian craft in the Arabian Gulf.

Gen. Joseph Votel was on board the USS New Orleans on a southbound transit in the Strait of Hormuz when the Iranian ships came within about 500 yards of the U.S. ship, according to U.S. defense officials.

A U.S. defense official said there were two separate encounters with the Iranian boats. The first was with a Houdong class patrol boat and the second with four smaller Iranian vessels. There was at least one bridge-to-bridge communication between the Americans and Iranians, the official said.

The encounters were deemed safe by the U.S., one defense official said, noting that Iranians often shadow U.S. Navy ships in the Gulf.

But Votel warned that such incidents pose a risk.

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