Iran warned of "consequences" of any new naval crisis

TEL AVIV (Reuters) - Iran must "bear the consequences" if there is any new confrontation between U.S. and Iranian vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, a senior U.S. official said on Wednesday.

"This was a very provocative act by the Iranians and could have and came very close to resulting in an altercation between our forces and their forces," Stephen Hadley, President George W. Bush's national security adviser, said en route to Israel with the U.S. leader.

"They've got to be very careful about this because if it happens again they are going to bear the consequences of that incident," he said.

Hadley was referring to an incident last weekend in which Iranian speedboats approached and threatened three U.S. Navy ships in the Strait of Hormuz.