Kanal13The U.S. military said Thursday that it struck an oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman a day earlier, after the vessel attempted to breach a U.S. blockade on Iran’s ports.
According to Associated Press the American maritime blockade is the latest action by the administration of President Donald Trump to try to push Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
“A U.S. aircraft fired two Hellfire missiles into the ship’s engine room after the crew repeatedly failed to comply with directions from U.S. forces”, the U.S. Central Command said on social media.
The U.S and Iran traded strikes for a second day, pushing the Middle East closer to the resumption of a full-scale war. The American attack, which lasted into Thursday morning in Iran, appeared more intense and wider than the day before, but Tehran released little information on the extent of the damage.
Also, the U.S. military said it used missile fire to disable an oil tanker near trying to break its blockade of Iranian ports. The announcement came after an Indian official said a prior U.S. strike on a different vessel nearby killed three Indian mariners, underscoring the danger to seafarers.
It was the third time this week that back-and-forth strikes have rattled the Middle East. The first involved attacks between Iran and Israel, followed by the two rounds of fire between the U.S. and Iran, which hit countries in the region that host American bases.
The new exchange of fire came as efforts to negotiate an end to the war appeared stuck, with President Trump warning that Tehran would “pay the price” for stalled negotiations.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement Thursday that the U.S. attacks had “effectively rendered the ceasefire … meaningless,” without saying it was abandoning it.
Central to the negotiations is Iran’s stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz, which has disrupted global energy supplies, driven up fuel prices and made food and other basics more expensive well beyond the region.
