A US Navy vessel sails on April 10, 2016 during the International Mine Countermeasures Exercise (IMCMEX) organised by US Navy at its Naval Support Activity base, the 5th Fleet command center off the coast of Bahrain's capital Manama on April 10, 2016. (AFP PHOTO/MOHAMMED AL-SHAIKH)

WASHINGTON, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- A U.S. Navy ship fired warning shots at Iranian ships on Sunday near the Strait of Hormuz, local media reported on Monday.

Citing anonymous sources, CNN reported that the USS Mahan fired warning shots as five Iranian ships approached it and two other U.S. ships, which were entering the strait.

Warning shots were fired because Iranian ships approached the USS Mahan at a high speed, CNN reported.

The incident was one of the latest tense encounters between the United States and Iran in the past year.

In another incident early 2016, 10 U.S. sailors were detained by Iran for about 15 hours after their vessels drifted into Iranian territorial waters, according to a Pentagon report.

A U.S. Navy investigation later found that faulty navigation equipment did not indicate the vessels' position in Iranian waters. Furthermore, one of the vessel had mechanical problems that delayed their potential transit out of those waters, the report said.