The United States military said it fired a Hellfire missile into a cargo ship sailing toward Iran on May 29, disabling the vessel for breaching an American blockade.
United States Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement on Saturday, May 30, that a US aircraft struck the engine room of the Gambia-flagged M/V Lian Star after its crew ignored more than 20 warnings while crossing international waters in the Gulf of Oman. “The ship is no longer transiting to Iran,” the command said.
CENTCOM did not say whether anyone aboard was hurt. A US official told the Associated Press that the vessel remains adrift and that American forces have not boarded it.
The command described the operation as the latest enforcement of a naval blockade it began in mid April, an effort aimed at choking maritime traffic into and out of Iranian ports. US forces have now disabled five commercial vessels and redirected 116 others under the campaign, which CENTCOM said it is sustaining as a ceasefire with Iran holds.
The blockade centres on the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway that handles roughly a fifth of the world’s seaborne oil and gas. Tehran has sought to disrupt shipping through the channel since the conflict escalated, prompting Washington to tighten restrictions on vessels linked to Iran.
Hours after the strike, Iran claimed it shot down a US drone, signalling that tensions around the strait remain volatile despite stalled diplomatic efforts.
