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The US military fired on a Panama-flagged container ship on Tuesday as it attempted to transit the Gulf of Oman to an Iranian port in violation of a US naval blockade on Iran.
A US Navy helicopter fired two Hellfire missiles into the engine room of the Vela Nova, disabling the vessel’s rudder, after its civilian crew “ignored repeated warnings” from US forces, according to a statement from Central Command, which oversees American forces in the Middle East.
“US forces operating in the Middle East are highly vigilant, lethal and ready,” it said, noting that the US military has redirected 55 vessels, boarded two and “disabled” three that have sought to bypass a US-imposed blockade.
The US military reimposed its blockade on Iran’s ports in July, seeking to squeeze the country’s economy, as Tehran resumed attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
The Vela Nova was struck 71 nautical miles off the coast of Pakistan while transiting westbound through the Gulf of Oman early on Tuesday morning, according to the Vanguard, a maritime security agency. There were no injuries reported to the 17 crew members.
Control over the strategic Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of the world’s oil passed before the US war against Iran, has emerged as a stumbling block in efforts to end the war.
Iran began firing on vessels in the narrow waterway shortly after the US and Israel began striking the country in February, driving up global energy prices and giving Tehran a significant point of leverage in peace talks.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, is up more than 20 per cent since the war began at the end of February. It settled 1.4 per cent higher on Tuesday at $88.91 a barrel.
Earlier on Tuesday, Mohsen Rezaei, the newly appointed secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said the strait would remain closed unless the US changed its behaviour and accepted Tehran’s conditions, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency.
Last week Iranian diplomats said they were close to the final stages of a deal with Oman to manage the critical waterway.
The US first imposed a naval blockade in April after peace talks in Islamabad failed to secure a breakthrough.
Three Indian sailors were killed in June after US forces struck a Palau-flagged ship accused of violating the blockade.
The blockade was lifted in June as part of a memorandum of understanding signed by the leaders of the US and Iran, who agreed to pause hostilities and kick-start talks for a negotiated settlement to end the war.
The blockade was subsequently reimposed in July in response to renewed Iranian attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
