Iran Releases Its Own Video of Confrontation

WASHINGTON — In a challenge to America's version of events, Iran yesterday released a video of the confrontation Sunday between five small Iranian speedboats and three American warships in the Persian Gulf.

The five-minute video does not include the confrontation or threatening language described by American officials. Instead, it shows Iranian navy personnel calmly radioing American warships to ask for additional information on ship identification.

Like the four-minute American video released Tuesday, the Iranian video does not capture the entire encounter, which American officials said lasted 20 to 30 minutes, and is therefore difficult to reconcile with the conflicting American version of events.

[Meanwhile, the Associated Press reported that American yesterday lodged a formal diplomatic protest with Iran over the incident.]