US says soldiers on Iranian warship opened fire on oil tanker

The US Navy says soldiers on an Iranian warship opened fire on an oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman, prompting it to dispatch the destroyer USS McFaul to intercept it.

"US forces twice prevented the Iranian navy from seizing a commercial oil tanker after they opened fire on a tanker off the coast of Oman. Both incidents occurred in international waters," the US Navy said in a statement on July 5.

The first incident occurred at 9 p.m. on July 5, when an Iranian warship approached the Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker TRF Moss. "The Iranian naval vessel left the area after the destroyer USS McFaul was deployed to the scene. Multiple reconnaissance assets were also present in the area, including maritime patrol aircraft," the statement said.

US prevents Iran from seizing oil tanker in Gulf of Oman — Iranian warships approach the Richmond Voyager oil tanker in video released on July 5. Video: *US Navy*

The second incident occurred about three hours later, when the Bahamas-flagged oil tanker M/T Richmond Voyager sent out a distress signal while traveling about 32 km off the coast of Oman.

"Another Iranian naval vessel approached the Richmond Voyager at a distance of 1.5 km and requested the tanker to stop. Iranian soldiers fired several rounds from small arms, but did not cause casualties or significant damage. However, some bullets hit the hull of the vessel, near the crew's living quarters. The Iranian naval vessel left the area when USS McFaul appeared," the US Navy said.

Iranian officials have not commented on the incident.

The US Navy said Iranian forces had harassed or seized nearly 20 foreign cargo ships in the past two years. The most recent incident occurred a month ago, when Tehran seized two oil tankers within a week. “This is a clear threat to regional maritime security and the global economy,” the US Navy said in a statement.

Relations between Tehran and Washington have been strained since 2018, when then-US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the US from the nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, in which Tehran agreed to limit uranium enrichment in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.

Iranian and US forces have had several close encounters at sea. The Iranian navy said in April it had warned off a US surveillance plane in the Persian Gulf, and forced the USS Florida nuclear submarine to surface as it passed through the Strait of Hormuz. In 2019, Tehran shot down a US drone worth more than $200 million that it said had violated southern Iranian airspace.