“Disabled” tanker. The US Navy sent a Super Hornet to open fire on an Iranian ship trying to break the blockade
A US Navy warplane opened fire and damaged an oil tanker trying to breach Washington's blockade of Iranian ports, the US military said on Wednesday, according to AFP.
It is the second time the US military has fired on a ship it says is trying to defy the blockade that has been in place since April 13.
US forces warned the Iranian-flagged and unladen tanker M/T Hasna that it was violating the blockade, but the crew “did not comply”, so a US F/A-18 Super Hornet aircraft “disabled the vessel's rudder by firing multiple projectiles with its 20 mm cannon,” US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a post on X.
“Hasna is no longer bound for Iran,” CENTCOM said, adding that “the US blockade against vessels attempting to enter or leave Iranian ports remains in effect.”
On April 19, another Iranian-flagged vessel, the M/V Touska, attempted to breach the blockade and ignored multiple warnings from a US destroyer, CENTCOM said at the time.
The American warship eventually ordered the crew to evacuate the engine room, at which it then fired several rounds.
CENTCOM said on Monday that more than 50 commercial vessels “were forced to turn back from the road or return to port to comply” with the blockade.
Trump Suspends Operation 'Project Freedom'
Although the blockade of Iranian ports continues, US President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday the suspension of US Operation “Project Freedom”, launched just 48 hours earlier to allow hundreds of ships blocked in the Gulf to cross the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump motivated the decision by “significant progress made toward a full and final agreement with Iranian leaders.”
Tehran later dismissed reports that the US was nearing an agreement with Iran on a one-page memorandum of understanding to end the war. He said the text represented “an American wish list, not reality.”
