US forces neutralize ship ‘attempting to circumvent’ Iranian blockade in Gulf of Oman | US-Israeli war against Iran

US military aircraft hits rear of commercial cargo ship in Gulf of Oman “without injuring crew”, CENTCOM said.

US forces disabled a commercial cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman after its crew “ignored repeated warnings and attempted to enforce the ongoing naval blockade against Iran,” according to Central Command (CENTCOM).

A U.S. military fighter jet struck the stern of the Panama-flagged M/V Ocean Molica, also known as Arika Sun, with a precision munition on Saturday, “completely disabling the ship’s propulsion without harming the crew,” CENTCOM said in a statement. The ship was attempting to transit regional waters after having “previously left an Iranian port”.

CENTCOM said its forces resumed their blockade against all ships “entering or leaving Iranian ports on July 14,” disabling four commercial vessels and turning away 135 vessels for “three months of strict enforcement.”

US forces also destroyed 10 oil tankers linked to the “multibillion-dollar shadow network” of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) during the same period, CENTCOM said.

US Senator Chris Murphy questioned the military strike, writing on X: “What is all this for? Why are taxpayers paying billions to hit commercial ships?”

“Apparently the goal is to gain leverage to convince the Iranians to let us pay them billions to return everything to the way it was before the war,” the Democratic politician added. “What a disaster.”

Britain’s Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency acknowledged the incident on Sunday, saying it had received “a report of an incident involving an oil tanker and military forces in the Gulf of Oman” and that authorities were investigating.

Meanwhile, the IRGC said it struck a ship in the Strait of Hormuz that was attempting to take an “illegal route”, as Tehran seeks to impose its own blockade on the vital waterway.

In a statement published by Iranian state media, the IRGC claimed that Iranian forces “have taken control of the administration of the straits.”

“During this mission, a few hours ago, a giant LPG carrier named NV Sunshine, owned by NatWit, which was attempting to transit through the illegal route south of the Strait of Hormuz, was hit,” the statement said.

The UKMTO said on Sunday that a departing tanker in the strait was struck on the port side by an unknown projectile, causing a fire on board. The British agency said the crew members were safe, while the damage and environmental impact remained unknown at the time of writing the report.

Tehran attempted to impose its control over the Strait of Hormuz during the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, insisting that ships be granted permission to pass through it via its preferred routes. However, ships are increasingly taking the risk of taking an alternative route along the southern coast of the strait.

The British Shipping Agency announced on Thursday that a ship sailing 94 km north of Madinat ash Shamal, off the northern coast of Qatar, had been hit by several projectiles, causing several casualties.

The agency did not specify the origin of the ship or the number of people killed or injured, adding that authorities were investigating the incident amid a recent increase in attacks on ships near the Strait of Hormuz.

Gulf ships attempting to pass through the strait, which provides the only maritime route into or out of the oil-rich region, have faced repeated attacks since the U.S.-Israel war began in late February.

The Strait of Hormuz remains vital to the global economy, with around a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas passing through the passage before the start of the war.