US Disables Tanker Violating Iran Port Blockade with Hellfire Missiles
The US Central Command announced it disabled the tanker 'Belma' with Hellfire missiles after it ignored warnings and continued toward Iran, violating the reimposed US naval blockade.
The US Central Command (CENTCOM) has reported that its forces disabled the motor tanker M/T Belma, which was sailing under the flag of Curaçao. Aircraft fired Hellfire missiles at the ship's smokestack, after which the vessel no longer proceeded to Iran. The announcement was made on platform X.
This marks the first time since the reimposition of the US naval blockade of Iranian ports on Tuesday at 23:00 Latvian time that a ship has been forcibly stopped. CENTCOM also stated that during the first 24 hours of the blockade, two compliant commercial vessels were diverted.
Previously, US forces had blockaded Iranian ports from April 13 to June 18. During that period, nine ships were disabled and over 140 commercial vessels were diverted, according to CENTCOM data.
