US disables merchant ship in Gulf of Oman over Iran blockade
U.S. Central Command says an aircraft fired on the stern of a vessel trying to break the naval cordon. Iran reports explosions at Qeshm and Jask.
A U.S. aircraft fired precision munitions at the stern of a merchant ship in the Gulf of Oman on Saturday, disabling it, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said. The vessel, flagged in St. Kitts and Nevis, had called at an Iranian port and was trying to leave the region.
The civilian crew "ignored repeated warnings" and tried several times to run the naval cordon around Iran, the command said. It posted the message at 14:37 Mexico City time, with a 17-second video. It did not give the ship's name or say whether anyone was hurt.
Iran has a different account. Explosions were reported on the east side of Qeshm island, in the Strait of Hormuz, and at the port of Jask, with no known cause and no casualty count. Iran's military said two tankers hit mines in the area and caught fire, without naming a flag or destination. That does not match the air strike Washington describes, and there is no independent confirmation.
Hormuz carries a large share of the world's traded oil, so any disruption there moves crude prices and, after a lag, fuel prices in Mexico. The United States has kept a naval blockade on Iran for months, in a conflict now more than eight months old whose diplomatic track remains stalled.
Still to come: CENTCOM's tally for the crew, the ship's identity and Tehran's formal response to the attacks on its coast.
