The United States military has reported that one of its helicopters fired missiles at a cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman on Tuesday, after the vessel allegedly attempted to violate the ongoing US blockade of Iranian ports.

According to a statement from US Central Command (Centcom), the MH-60 aircraft launched two Hellfire missiles into the engine room of the Panama-flagged M/V Vela Nova, targeting the ship's steering gear. Centcom said the action was taken after the civilian crew disregarded repeated warnings from American forces.

The vessel is no longer heading toward Iran, Centcom added. The US has been enforcing a blockade of Iranian ports since the failure of efforts to end the war that began on 28 February, which the US and Israel initiated. Iran has not yet commented on the incident.

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In response to the blockade, Tehran has launched attacks on Israel and US-allied states across the Gulf and has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for oil shipments. Before the conflict, about a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas passed through the strait, and prices have been volatile since.

Mediation attempts to reopen the strait have failed, and since the collapse of the latest ceasefire in June, both sides have intermittently exchanged fire. Centcom's statement on X did not name the Iranian port the vessel was heading to, nor did it mention any casualties.

Centcom reiterated that the blockade remains in full effect, noting that as of 11 August, it has redirected 55 commercial vessels attempting to run the blockade, disabled three non-compliant vessels, and boarded two.

In a separate development on Tuesday, Yemen's internationally recognized government reported that six people were killed and ten injured in strikes by Iran-backed Houthis on a cargo ship in the Red Sea. The Houthis claimed they targeted a vessel carrying Saudi military equipment, marking what appears to be their first deadly attack on a ship since the war began.

Source: BBC News