CENTCOM Says U.S. Forces Disabled Cargo Vessel Trying to Breach Iran Blockade

U.S. forces disabled a commercial cargo vessel in the Gulf of Oman on Saturday after its crew ignored repeated warnings and tried several times to violate the naval blockade against Iran, U.S. Central Command said.

CENTCOM identified the ship as the St. Kitts-flagged M/V Huda. It said the vessel was trying to leave regional waters after visiting an Iranian port.

According to the command, a U.S. military aircraft fired precision munitions at the ship's stern. Before the strike, U.S. forces directed the civilian crew to leave the spaces that were being targeted, CENTCOM said.

The command released a short video of the operation. Its statement did not provide a casualty count or identify the ship's cargo, owner or destination.

CENTCOM said enforcement actions since July had redirected 147 commercial vessels that complied with U.S. instructions and disabled five merchant ships that refused to comply. It separately said U.S. forces had previously destroyed 10 Iranian commercial oil tankers linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' shadow network.

Those enforcement figures and the account of the Huda operation are CENTCOM's statements. The release did not include an account from the vessel's crew or operator.

The command advised mariners near Iran's coast and surrounding waters to heed warnings from U.S. forces.