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US forces struck and disabled another oil tanker attempting to bypass their blockade of Iranian ports this week, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said Thursday.
A US aircraft fired two Hellfire missiles into the engine room of the Guinea-Bissau-flagged vessel “after the crew repeatedly failed to comply with directions from US forces,” CENTCOM said.
It was the third such US strike this week and the ninth since the blockade began, said CENTCOM, which oversees US forces in the Middle East.
The strikes on the ship attempting to transport oil through the Gulf of Oman happened in the morning hours (around 4:20 am CEST) Thursday, CENTCOM said.
Early on Thursday, the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) Centre reported a tanker fire 21 nautical miles northeast of Sohar, Oman, with the Indian embassy in the country saying the Omani navy was evacuating crew members.
According to British marine security firm Vanguard, the tanker had 20 crew members aboard.
This latest US strike followed a similar one the day before off the coast of Oman.
A US warplane “fired precision munitions into the ship’s engine room after the crew repeatedly failed to comply with directions from American forces,” US Central Command said in a post on X, identifying the vessel as the Palau-flagged MT Settebello.
India has since summoned the senior US diplomat in New Delhi Wednesday to lodge “strong protest” after the attack left three Indian crewmembers missing. The three sailors have since been confirmed dead.
On Monday, a US F-18 Super Hornet from the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln hit and disabled the Palau-flagged MT Marivex in the Gulf of Oman under the same basis.
The US military said that since the start of the blockade on 13 April, it has “redirected 135 ships that complied, and allowed 42 vessels supporting humanitarian aid to pass.”
The attack is the latest in a series of missile and drone strikes on commercial shipping in the strait, which has been under two rival blockades for months.
Tehran put a stop to cargo ship traffic through the key waterway at the beginning of the war on 28 February, while the US has imposed its own blockade on all Iranian vessels and ports in the meantime.
Additional sources • AFP