US forces strike Iranian-flagged unladen oil tanker

US forces disabled an Iranian-flagged tanker in the Gulf of Oman after it ignored warnings, escalating maritime tensions amid the Iran conflict. President Donald Trump claimed Iran’s military capabilities were heavily degraded and reiterated demands to prevent Tehran from obtaining nuclear weapons

Washington: US forces struck and disabled an Iranian-flagged unladen oil tanker sailing toward an Iranian port, the US Central Command said on X. The strike took place at 9 a.m. US Eastern Time on Wednesday, when the targeted vessel, Hasna, was transiting international waters en route to an Iranian port on the Gulf of Oman, said the command in a statement.

“After Hasna’s crew failed to comply with repeated warnings, US forces disabled the tanker’s rudder by firing several rounds from the 20mm cannon gun of a US Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet launched from USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72),” the statement read.

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Hasna is no longer transiting to Iran, it added. The US blockade against ships attempting to enter or depart Iranian ports remains in full effect, said the command.

One day earlier, US President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that he has halted Pentagon’s mission to guide commercial vessels out of the Strait of Hormuz while maintaining its blockade of Iranian ports “in full force and effect,” reports Xinhua news agency.

Meanwhile, Trump has claimed Iran’s military infrastructure had been heavily damaged during the conflict. “They had a Navy with 159 ships, and now every ship is blown to pieces and lying at the bottom of the water,” he said. “They had an Air Force, lots of planes, and they don’t have any planes.”

He further claimed Iran’s anti-aircraft systems, radar capabilities and missile stockpiles had been “mostly decimated”. “Their leaders are all dead. So, I think we won,” Trump said. “They want to make a deal badly,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Wednesday (Local time). “We’ve had very good talks over the last 24 hours, and it’s very possible that we’ll make a deal.”

Trump rejected suggestions that Iran remained defiant. “Well, why do you say they refused to submit? You don’t know that,” he told a reporter. The President repeated his long-standing position that Tehran must never acquire nuclear weapons. “They can’t have nuclear weapons, it’s very simple,” Trump said.