The United States military struck a cargo vessel in the Gulf of Oman on Saturday night after it departed a port in Iran and defied operational warnings against breaching the maritime blockade, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced.
Video: CENTCOM
According to the official release, the vessel, identified as the Panama-flagged Arika Sun, was targeted by an American fighter jet employing precision-guided munitions. The strike disabled the ship’s propulsion system without injuring or killing any crew members on board.
CENTCOM highlighted that approximately four months ago, the U.S. military reinstituted a stringent naval blockade governing all vessels departing Iranian seaports. Under the enforced quarantine, four ships have been turned away, and U.S. forces have intercepted and seized 135 vessels. Furthermore, U.S. forces have destroyed 10 cargo ships directly affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) illicit shadow maritime network.
Tehran has previously declared that it will not tolerate the strangulation of its commercial shipping lanes and threatened to disrupt freedom of navigation for all Gulf nations in retaliation. Iranian officials increasingly view the tightening maritime blockade as the final economic chokehold on the regime, placing regional forces on alert for prospective retaliatory provocations in accordance with Tehran’s warnings.