U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced that its forces disabled a commercial vessel in the Gulf of Oman on Saturday after its civilian crew ignored repeated warnings and made several attempts to breach the U.S. naval blockade imposed on Iran.
In a statement, CENTCOM said a U.S. military aircraft fired precision-guided munitions at the stern of the MV Huda, a cargo ship sailing under the flag of St. Kitts, disabling the vessel. The action came after U.S. forces warned the crew and ordered them to leave the targeted areas.
The command said the vessel had attempted to leave territorial waters after calling at an Iranian port.
CENTCOM reaffirmed that it would continue strictly enforcing the U.S. naval blockade on Iran. It said that since July, U.S. operations had redirected 147 commercial vessels that complied with warnings and disabled five others that refused to comply, including the MV Huda.
CENTCOM Says 10 Iranian Oil Tankers Were Destroyed
The statement also said U.S. forces had previously destroyed 10 other Iranian commercial oil tankers, which CENTCOM described as part of an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) “shadow fleet” network worth billions of dollars.
CENTCOM urged all mariners operating near Iran’s coastal areas or surrounding waters to comply with blockade warnings issued by U.S. forces.
