The U.S. military fired a missile into the engine room of a merchant ship that was trying to breach the U.S. blockade against Iranian ports, the Central Command announced Saturday, cited by AP News.
The Gambian-flagged cargo ship Lian Star ignored more than 20 warnings from US forces overnight as it tried to enter an Iranian port, the US military said.
It remained adrift in the Gulf of Oman and US forces did not board it, said a US official familiar with the situation, speaking on condition of anonymity about military operations.
With this action, the number of ships stopped by the US military while trying to break the blockade reached six. One was allowed to continue on its way, while another 116 were diverted, Washington said.
Discussions continue
The US blockade was initiated on April 17 in response to Iran's decision to paralyze the Strait of Hormuz after the US-Israeli attack on it on February 28. A fragile truce has been in effect since April 7, and talks are currently underway for a possible 60-day extension of the agreement, during which negotiations on Iran's nuclear program would take place.
The US president had said in a social media post on Friday that Iran “must agree that they will never have a nuclear bomb or weapon”, that “the Strait of Hormuz must be opened immediately” without tolls or traffic restrictions, and that mines placed by Iran in the waterway must be “removed”, according to CNN.
In response, Mohsen Rezaie, an adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, accused US President Donald Trump on Saturday of “betraying diplomacy for the third time”, suggesting Tehran expected such a stance from the White House leader.
