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A U.S. Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet fired precision munitions into the smokestacks of two Iranian-flagged oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman on Friday, disabling both before they could enter an Iranian port.
The latest enforcement action under the U.S. naval blockade of Iran, as Iran's Fars News Agency reported, scattered and intermittent confrontations between Iranian forces and U.S. vessels in the Strait of Hormuz continued for several hours.
U.S. Central Command confirmed that the M/T Sea Star III and M/T Sevda were intercepted before entering an Iranian port on the Gulf of Oman on May 8.
A F/A-18 Super Hornet from USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) "disabled both tankers after firing precision munitions into their smokestacks, preventing the non-compliant ships from entering Iran," CENTCOM said in a statement posted to X, which included footage of the strikes. Both vessels were unladen at the time of interception.
CENTCOM also confirmed that the Iranian-flagged M/T Hasna had been disabled on May 6 by a F/A-18 Super Hornet from USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), which fired several rounds from a 20mm cannon gun to disable the tanker's rudder as it attempted to sail to an Iranian port.
"All three vessels are no longer transiting to Iran," CENTCOM said.
Admiral Brad Cooper, the CENTCOM commander, said: "U.S. forces in the Middle East remain committed to full enforcement of the blockade of vessels entering or leaving Iran. Our highly trained men and women in uniform are doing incredible work."
CENTCOM said more than 50 commercial vessels had been redirected and multiple vessels disabled by its forces to ensure compliance since the blockade began.
Separately, Iran's Fars News Agency reported that intermittent confrontations between Iranian armed forces and U.S. vessels had been ongoing for several hours in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday.
The report came a day after three U.S. Navy destroyers transited the strait under Iranian missile and drone attack, an exchange both sides accused the other of initiating, with Trump calling it "a love tap" and the ceasefire still nominally in effect.
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