TEHRAN: An Iranian official said on Friday (May 8) that US attacks overnight in and near the Strait of Hormuz struck an Iranian cargo vessel, wounding 10 sailors and leaving five others missing.
Iran and the United States exchanged fire overnight Thursday to Friday despite a truce in place since Apr 8 that paused a weeks-long war.
“During the Americans’ aggressive actions last night in the waters of the Strait of Hormuz and the Makran Sea (Gulf of Oman), a cargo vessel near the waters of Minab was struck and caught fire,” said Mohammad Radmehr, an official in the southern Hormozgan province, according to Mehr news agency.
“Ten injured sailors have been transferred to hospital, and local groups and search teams are trying to learn the fate of the other (five) sailors,” he added.
It was not immediately clear whether the cargo vessel was directly targeted.
US Central Command said Iranian forces had launched missiles, drones and small boats at three US warships overnight but that none were hit, while American forces destroyed the incoming threat and retaliated against land bases in Iran.
CENTCOM also said that more than 70 tankers were being prevented from entering or leaving Iranian ports on Friday.
“These commercial ships have the capacity to transport over 166 million barrels of Iranian oil worth an estimated US$13 billion-plus,” CENTCOM said in a post on X.
Iran’s military targeted the US ships after they targeted “an Iranian oil tanker” moving from Iran’s coastal waters as well as another ship entering the Strait of Hormuz opposite the port of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates.
