The US military says it fires a Hellfire missile to disable a tanker it describes as attempting to reach Iran amid the ongoing standoff around the Strait of Hormuz. According to the accounts, the target is the Botswana-flagged M/T Lexie, which is unladen and is reportedly heading toward Kharg Island, north of the strait near Kuwait. The US Central Command (Centcom) states that aircraft disabled the vessel’s engine room as it passed through international waters. One report also notes that the US released a video showing the strike, which hit the engine room and prevented the ship from continuing.
The reports place the incident within the wider US enforcement effort that began on April 13, when the US started a blockade of Iran. One outlet says the Lexie is the sixth ship disabled by the US since the start of the blockade. The Guardian adds that the crew ignored repeated warnings over a 24-hour period prior to the strike, while the other reports focus primarily on the disabling action and its context within the blockade. All accounts describe the action as an effort to stop tanker traffic linked to Iran.
