US Disables Cargo Ship as Two Tankers Hit Mines
United States forces disabled a commercial cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman on Saturday, 7 November, and hours later Iran said two oil tankers had struck naval mines and caught fire in the Strait of Hormuz.
US Central Command said a military aircraft fired precision munitions at the stern of the St Kitts-flagged M/V Huda after the vessel's civilian crew ignored repeated warnings and tried several times to breach the American naval blockade of Iran. The crew had been directed to leave the targeted sections of the ship before the strike. The vessel had visited an Iranian port and was trying to leave regional waters when it was hit, about 18 nautical miles east of Khor Fakkan in the United Arab Emirates.
Central Command said its forces have redirected 147 commercial vessels that complied with blockade instructions since July, while five merchant ships that refused orders were disabled. The condition of the Huda's crew and the full extent of the damage were not immediately known.
Twenty-one minutes after the Huda strike, at 20:56 GMT, Iran's Revolutionary Guard Navy said two oil tankers had struck mines and caught fire — one east of the strait and one inside the waterway itself. The Guard said both vessels had switched off their navigation and positioning systems and were using routes Tehran calls unauthorised. It gave no names, flags or owners for the tankers, and the claims have not been independently verified.
The Guard warned that any vessel cooperating with the US military in the area would "definitely" hit mines. The announcements came a day after the Guard reported a separate pair of tankers hitting mines on Friday, and as the naval blockade and the closure of the strait continue to disrupt shipping through one of the world's most important oil routes.
[Source: clashreport.com](https://clashreport.com/world/articles/us-warplane-strikes-cargo-ship-defying-iran-naval-blockade-akuxbcpjexu) | [Source: asiapost.in](https://asiapost.in/irans-irgc-says-2-violating-tankers-hit-mines-in-hormuz-strait-us-forces-disable-vessel-in-gulf-of-oman/)
