US military says it hit commercial ship trying to break blockade and reach Iran

The U.S. military said Saturday night it had stopped a merchant ship attempting to break a blockade of Iranian ports by firing a missile at its engine room.

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According to US Central Command, the Gambian-flagged cargo ship Lian Star ignored more than 20 warnings from US forces overnight as it attempted to enter an Iranian port, the military said. Although the ship remained adrift in the Gulf of Oman, US forces did not board it, according to media reports.

The latest action comes after hostilities resumed this week, despite a fragile ceasefire in effect since April 7, and as the world waits to see whether a deal can be reached to end the war the United States and Israel launched against Iran on February 28 over Tehran’s controversial nuclear program.

In this latest action, the U.S. military stopped six ships attempting to break the blockade. with only one allowed to continue. Another 116 ships were redirected, the military said.

The US blockade was launched on April 17 in response to Iran’s effective closure of the strait after the start of the Middle East war.

Washington seeks to limit Iranian shipments and further weaken its access to liquidity, creating more pain for its long-weakened economy.

Trump has not yet decided on a deal with Iran

Earlier, US President Donald Trump met with his advisers on Friday, but is yet to decide whether to move forward with a deal to extend the ceasefire and reopen the strait after a tentative agreement was finalized between the two sides.

This agreement, according to US officials, provides for an extension of the current 60-day ceasefire, the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and a reduction in Iran’s nuclear program, with Tehran ceding a significant percentage of its uranium deposits. Iran said no deal had been finalized.

Meanwhile, commercial traffic quietly continued to transit the strait, despite Iran’s claims that it had to approve any transit, although at a much lower volume than before the war.

Any violation of these regulations will seriously endanger the security of their passage,” Iran’s Joint Military Command said in a statement broadcast by state television on Saturday, warning that any military vessel attempting to interfere with the passage would be targeted.

Tehran has even imposed transit tolls of up to $2 million, which experts have called a violation of a principle of international maritime commerce: freedom of peaceful navigation.

On Saturday, Qatar’s Deputy Prime Minister, Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman bin Hassan bin Ali Al Thani, said the Gulf country was opposed to imposing transit fees, “but at times when they say they are going to use them for mine clearance or for temporary use of the fees, that is something that is negotiable, and it could help the transit of the Strait of Hormuz to return to a normal stage.”

Events in the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway between Iran and Oman, where around 20 percent of global shipping passes, have shaken the global economy.

Shipments of significant quantities of oil, natural gas and related products like fertilizers are largely blocked, increasing pressure on consumers and food producers.

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