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A US Navy helicopter fired two Hellfire missiles into the engine room of a cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman on Tuesday, disabling it after the crew ignored repeated warnings, US Central Command said in a statement covered by Al Jazeera.
CENTCOM identified the vessel as the Panama-flagged Vela Nova and said it was sailing toward an Iranian port in violation of the naval blockade Washington reimposed on July 14. The missiles struck the ship's engine room and disabled its steering gear. CENTCOM did not report any injuries, and CBS News, which also reviewed the CENTCOM statement, quoted the command saying the ship is "no longer transiting to Iran in violation of the U.S. blockade, which remains in full effect."
The strike was the third vessel disabled and the 12th targeted since the blockade campaign began in April, according to CENTCOM's tally. The command said it has redirected 55 commercial vessels and boarded two others since reimposing the blockade last month.
The attack came a day after President Trump said the United States would seek compensation from Iran for "50 years" of damage, a demand that followed Tehran's own condition that Washington pay reparations before reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a story Circuit Wire covered Monday. Iran's Supreme National Security Council secretary Mohsen Rezaei said Tuesday the strait "will not be opened until the United States changes its behaviour," according to Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency.
Pakistan's interior minister traveled to Tehran on Tuesday for mediation talks, and Pakistan's defense minister told Bloomberg the two sides were nearing "some sort of an arrangement." Oil prices rose for a second straight day as the standoff continued, with Brent crude edging back toward $90 a barrel.
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