A US aircraft fired a missile at a cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman while enforcing the blockade of Iran, US Central Command (CENTCOM) has said.
According to CENTCOM, the Gambian-flagged M/V Lian Star ignored more than 20 warnings on Friday while sailing toward an Iranian port.
“A US aircraft disabled the vessel by firing a Hellfire missile into the ship’s engine room after Lian Star’s crew failed to comply. The ship is no longer transiting to Iran,” CENTCOM said on X on Saturday.
AP reported, citing a US official, that the vessel remains adrift and that US forces did not board it.
The latest military action near the Strait of Hormuz took place as peace talks with Iran failed to produce a breakthrough – despite optimism expressed by US officials last week.
Iran closed the waterway, which normally handles around 25% of global seaborne oil trade and 20% of liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments, to ships from “hostile nations” in response to the US-Israeli airstrikes launched on February 28. The US imposed its own blockade on Iranian ports a week after a ceasefire was reached in April.
The US has since disabled five commercial vessels and redirected 116 others while enforcing the blockade, CENTCOM said.
US President Donald Trump has since threatened to resume military operations unless Iran accepts his terms, which Tehran has rejected as unacceptable.
“The Army of the Islamic Republic stands firmly and resolutely against any hostile move by the enemy,” Admiral Habibollah Sayyari, the deputy commander of the Iranian Army for coordination, said on Saturday, as cited by Press TV.