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President Donald Trump on Sunday said the US Navy had shot out the engine room of an Iranian-flagged cargo chip as it tried to breach a naval blockade, and then seized the stricken vessel in the Gulf of Oman.
Mr Trump said the vessel, named Touska, had tried to get through the US blockade but that “it did not go well for them”.
"The US Navy guided missile destroyer USS Spruance intercepted the Touska in the Gulf of Oman, and gave them fair warning to stop,” Mr Trump said on Truth Social.
“The Iranian crew refused to listen, so our Navy ship stopped them right in their tracks by blowing a hole in the engine room. Right now, US Marines have custody of the vessel.”
He said the Treasury Department had earlier imposed sanctions on the Touska.
The US military's Central Command later published an account of the interception and said Spruance had disabled Touska’s propulsion by firing several rounds from the destroyer’s 5-inch MK 45 Gun into Touska’s engine room.
Centcom published a video of the incident. A sailor can be heard giving a warning to the crew of the Touska to vacate its engine room before several shots are fired. It is not clear from the video what was hit.
