-- US forces fired on and disabled two Iranian oil tankers on Friday after exchanging fire with Iranian forces in the Strait of Hormuz overnight, as Tehran seized a tanker alleging that it disrupted Iranian oil exports.
The Central Command said that US Navy aircraft struck the M/T Sea Star III and M/T Sevda before the vessels entered an Iranian port on the Gulf of Oman in violation of what it described as an ongoing US maritime blockade.
The US military also said it disabled another Iranian-flagged tanker, the M/T Hasna, on Wednesday after a fighter jet struck the vessel's rudder.
"There are currently more than 70 tankers that US forces are preventing from entering or leaving Iranian ports," Centcom said in a statement on X, adding that the vessels have the capacity to transport over 166 million barrels of crude worth about $13 billion.
According to the Hormuz Strait Monitor's data on Friday, tanker spot rates for Very Large Crude Carriers are currently about 460% higher than pre-crisis levels, while daily throughput, measured in deadweight tons, has reduced to about 5% of the normal.
On Thursday, the US military said that its three navy destroyers came under attack from Iranian missiles, drones and small boats while transiting the Hormuz.
Meanwhile, Iranian authorities said the Iranian Navy had seized an oil tanker, Ocean Koi, in the Gulf of Oman over what Tehran described as maritime violations and attempts to disrupt Iranian oil exports.
"The tanker had sought to exploit the ongoing situation in the region in a bid to damage and disrupt the export of oil and the interests of the Iranian nation," according to an Iranian Navy statement carried by local media.
Iran's naval commandos escorted the tanker to the southern coast of the country and handed it over to judicial authorities.
The developments have cast more doubt on a fragile US-Iran ceasefire that President Trump insisted is still in effect, as Washington awaits the Iranian response to its latest proposal for a deal to end the Middle East conflict.
Iranian media, citing an unnamed military source, said clashes in the Strait had stopped "for now" but warned fighting could resume if US forces interfered with Iranian vessels again.
The UAE's Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said three people were wounded on Friday after air defenses engaged two ballistic missiles and three drones launched by Iran.