The US military says it fired missiles to disable a cargo ship that was attempting to break the US blockade of Iranian ports. This was reported by infohub.kz.
According to a statement from US Central Command (CENTCOM), its MH-60 helicopter fired two Hellfire missiles into the engine room of the Panama-flagged M/V Vela Nova vessel on Tuesday, as it attempted to transit the Gulf of Oman.
Centcom says it acted after the ship's civilian crew ignored repeated warnings from American forces. It adds that the vessel is no longer transiting to Iran.
Iran has so far not commented on the issue. The US first began blockading Iranian ports in April, following failed attempts to end the US-Iran war. In its statement on X, Centcom says M/V Vela attempted to sail to an Iranian port without naming it. It says the US blockade remains in full effect, adding that as of 11 August Centcom has redirected 55 commercial vessels attempting to run the blockade, disabled 3 non-compliant vessels, and boarded 2.