A military confrontation happened near the strategic Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf of Oman on Wednesday as the U.S. Navy intervened during an Iranian threat against two commercial oil tankers.
The Iranian naval vessels backed off after the U.S. Navy dispatched the guided-missile destroyer USS McFaul to the scene, and then both commercial ships continued their voyages.
"The Iranian navy did make attempts to seize commercial tankers lawfully transiting international waters," said Cmdr. Tim Hawkins, spokesman for the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet. "The U.S. Navy responded immediately and prevented those seizures."
Iran claimed on Thursday its navy had a court order to seize the Richmond Voyager, a Bahamas-flagged oil tanker, that had allegedly collided with an Iranian vessel, according to Reuters. Iran said the Richmond Voyager's collision with an Iranian ship carrying seven crew members had injured five people and caused flooding on board, and that the tanker had not stopped after the incident.
The IRINN news agency claimed the ship's owner had asked for the tanker to be seized.
A video released by the Pentagon apparently showed an Iranian ship menacing one of the tankers in international waters.
At one point the Iranian vessel apparently opened fire, striking the ship in several areas.
Hawkins said the gunfire directed at the second vessel did not cause casualties or major damage.
The U.S. Navy said an Iranian naval vessel also approached the Marshall Islands-flagged TRF Moss in the Gulf of Oman at around 1 a.m. The U.S. deployed the McFaul as well as an MQ-9 Reaper drone and a P-8 Poseidon patrol plane.
Three hours later, the U.S. Navy had then received the distress call from the Bahamian-flagged Richmond Voyager more than 20 nautical miles off the coast of Muscat, the capital of Oman. The Navy said another Iranian naval vessel had closed within a mile of the tanker and had ordered it to stop.
The same U.S. destroyer sped toward the tanker at "maximum speed," the Navy said in a statement. "Prior to McFaul's arrival on scene, Iranian personnel fired multiple, long bursts from both small arms and crew-served weapons," it said.
"I couldn't be prouder of the entire {U.S. Naval Forces Central Command} team, especially the exceptional effort by the McFaul crew, for immediately responding and preventing another seizure," Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, U.S. 5th Fleet and Combined Maritime Forces said in a statement. "We remain vigilant and ready to protect navigational rights in these critical waters."
The U.S. Navy says Iran has seized at least five commercial vessels in the last two years and has harassed more than a dozen others. Many of the incidents have occurred in and around the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which 20% of all the world's crude oil passes.
In May, the United States increased the rotation of ships and aircraft patrolling the Strait of Hormuz with partners following an uptick in Iranian merchant vessel seizures. The increased force presence supports multinational efforts under the International Maritime Security Construct and bilaterally with partner nations to deter threats to commercial shipping and reassure regional mariners, the Navy said.
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