The U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet announced Wednesday that Iranian vessels attempted to seize two oil tanker ships near the Strait of Hormuz that separates Iran from the Arabian Peninsula.
“The Iranian navy did make attempts to seize commercial tankers lawfully transiting international waters,” said Cmdr. Tim Hawkins, a spokesman for the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet, in a statement to several news outlets. “The U.S. Navy responded immediately and prevented those seizures.”
The Iranian vessels, the U.S. Navy said, fired shots at the oil tankers as part of its attempt to seize the two tankers. Only the second tanker was fired upon by the vessels, and no damage nor casualties was confirmed, officials said….