AFP/Getty Images
An Iranian flag flies next to a surface-to-surface Sajil missile before it is launched November 12, 2008 at an undisclosed location in Iran. Iran was testing a new generation of surface-to-surface missiles today, according to the semi-official Fars news agency, which quoted the defense minister as saying. In the past, Iran has often boasted about the development of new weapons systems, but has met with skepticism from Western defense analysts. AFP PHOTO/FARS NEWS/STR (Photo credit should read -/AFP/Getty Images)
CNN –
According to a US defense official, the US Navy intervened to prevent Iranian naval vessels from hijacking two oil tankers in separate incidents in the Gulf of Oman early Wednesday morning.
According to the official, an Iranian ship opened fire on the tanker during the second seizure attempt.
In the first incident, an Iranian Navy vessel approached the TRF Moss, a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker, in international waters in the Gulf of Oman around 1 a.m. local time, the official said. The tanker was through the Strait of Hormuz and on its way to the Arabian Sea when the Iranian ship approached.
The Iranian ship had no reason to be there or to approach the tanker other than to try to seize it, the official said. A US Navy destroyer along with maritime patrol planes approached the ships to prevent the oil tanker from being seized, the official said. The Iranian ship then changed course and left the area.
But just hours later, a second Iranian Navy ship approached another oil tanker, the Richmond Voyager, which was in international waters about 20 nautical miles off the coast of Muscat, Oman. The tanker was also en route to the Arabian Sea and was even further from Iranian waters than the first tanker.
As the Iranian ship approached the Richmond Voyager, the tanker issued a distress call, the US official said. The US Navy destroyer received the distress call and sailed at full speed to the scene of the accident, the official said. The Iranian ship had already called the oil tanker and was just trying to stop and board the ship when the US Navy destroyer approached.
Iranian personnel aboard the Iranian Navy ship opened fire on the tanker with small arms, the U.S. official said, hitting the side of the ship near the crew’s living quarters. No one was injured aboard the Richmond Voyager, the US official said, and the Iranian ship left the scene as the US Navy destroyer approached.
The US Navy did not open fire during the incident and no US personnel were injured.