The U.S. military has admitted that their helicopter fired missiles at a cargo ship in the Oman Gulf that attempted to violate the maritime blockade imposed by the U.S. on Iran.
The U.S. Central Command (Centcom) stated in a release that an MH-60 helicopter fired two Hellfire missiles into the engine room of the Panama-flagged M/V Vela Nova on Tuesday (11 Aug 2026) as the ship tried to pass through the Oman Gulf.
Centcom said the decision followed the "civilian crew repeatedly refusing and ignoring multiple warnings from U.S. forces," adding that the ship "was no longer heading toward Iran."
In a statement on X, Centcom officials said the M/V Vela Nova attempted to sail to an unnamed Iranian port, emphasizing that the U.S. blockade "remains fully in effect."
Iran has yet to comment on this incident.
The U.S. first began enforcing the blockade of Iranian ports in April after diplomatic efforts to end the conflict between the U.S. and Iran failed.
Centcom also revealed that as of 11 Aug, U.S. forces have rerouted 55 commercial ships attempting to breach the blockade, destroyed 3 ships rendering them inoperable, and seized control of 2 vessels.
/foreign news coverage:https://www.thairath.co.th/news/foreign
Source:bbc