Washington, July 17 (IANS) US forces intercepted three commercial vessels attempting to breach the US naval blockade against Iran, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said.
CENTCOM said on X: “As of today, American forces have redirected 3 commercial vessels trying to run the blockade, disabled 1 that didn’t comply, and boarded 1 to ensure full compliance with the ongoing U.S. naval blockade against Iran.”
US Marines from the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit conduct a verification boarding aboard M/T Wen Yao in the Gulf of Oman, July 16, CENTCOM announced.
US forces resumed blocking maritime traffic entering and leaving Iranian ports on Tuesday.
“The Strait of Hormuz and the surrounding waters remain free and open, except for vessels attempting to violate America’s steel wall blockade,” CENTCOM said.
US forces have carried out strikes on Iranian targets for six consecutive days after US President Donald Trump last week declared the ceasefire reached in April “over.”
Earlier, US forces have announced that they fired missiles at an unladen oil tanker attempting to sail toward an Iranian port in the Arabian Gulf and disabled it.
The commercial vessel, identified as Curacao-flagged M/T Belma, “ignored multiple warnings as it attempted to violate the US blockade,” the command said in a post on social media on Wednesday (local time).
A US aircraft disabled the vessel sailing toward Kharg Island after firing hellfire missiles into the ship’s smokestack, it added. “The ship is no longer transiting to Iran.”
US forces reimposed its naval blockade against vessels transiting to or from Iranian ports and coastal areas on Tuesday.
The US military on Wednesday conducted two waves of strikes against Iran, the US Central Command said earlier.
“At 3 p.m. ET (1900 GMT), U.S. forces launched operations for a second wave of strikes today against Iran,” the command wrote in a post on X. “The strikes are targeting Iranian military capabilities used to threaten vessels freely transiting through the Strait of Hormuz.”
–IANS
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