US says it fired missile at Iran-bound oil tanker

Centcom said the strike on Qeshm Island had targeted an Iranian military ground control station, and that the US military also shot down three attack drones that had been launched by Iran toward “civilian mariners that were rightfully transiting regional waters”.

The IRGC said “disrupting the security of the Strait of Hormuz will carry a heavy price for the aggressive US military”.

Iran has repeatedly attacked targets in Bahrain and Kuwait, where US military bases are located.

Earlier, Centcom said it has struck and disabled an unladen oil tanker that was sailing towards Iran, as part of Washington’s naval blockade on the Strait of Hormuz.

A US aircraft fired a Hellfire missile into the engine room of the Botswana-flagged M/T vessel, after its crew “ignored repeated warnings”, it said.

Centcom also released a footage purportedly showing the moment the tanker was hit on Tuesday. Iran has not publicly commented on the issue.

The US military began enforcing its blockade of all vessels entering and exiting Iranian ports on 13 April.