US military fires missiles to halt ship breaching Iran blockade

The US military states that one of its helicopters fired missiles to stop a cargo ship attempting to breach the blockade of Iranian ports. US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced in a statement that an MH-60 helicopter fired two Hellfire missiles at the engine room of the Panama-flagged vessel MV Vela Nova on Tuesday as it attempted to transit the Gulf of Oman. CENTCOM stated that the military action was taken after the ship's civilian crew ignored repeated warnings from US forces. The command added that the vessel is no longer heading towards Iran. In a statement on X, CENTCOM noted that the MV Vela intended to reach an Iranian port, though the specific port was not named. CENTCOM maintains that the blockade of Iranian ports remains fully in effect. According to the same statement, as of 11 August, US forces have diverted 55 commercial vessels that attempted to bypass the blockade, disabled three 'non-compliant' ships, and boarded and inspected two others. Iran has not yet commented on the incident. According to the BBC, the US began the blockade of Iranian ports in April following the failure of efforts to end the conflict between the US and Iran.