U.S. Central Command published footage of F/A-18 Hornets striking and disabling Iranian tankers trying to run the U.S. blockade of the country.
CENTCOM struck three vessels in two strikes while they were trying to enter an Iranian port in the Gulf of Oman, each time with an F/A-18 Hornet — one from the USS George H.W. Bush and one from the USS Abraham Lincoln. The first strike on Wednesday targeted the oil tanker M/T Hasna, disabling it by hitting the “tanker’s rudder by firing several rounds from a 20mm cannon gun.”
The second strike on Friday, targeting the Iranian-flagged M/T Sea Star III and M/T Sevda, “disabled both tankers after firing precision munitions into their smokestacks, preventing the non-compliant ships from entering Iran.”
All three ships were unladen while trying to enter an Iranian port.
“U.S. forces in the Middle East remain committed to full enforcement of the blockade of vessels entering or leaving Iran,” CENTCOM Commander Adm. Brad Cooper said in a statement. “Our highly trained men and women in uniform are doing incredible work.”
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The U.S. blockade was instituted in response to Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, and is intended to strangle the country’s economy and push it to the negotiating table. So far, the blockade has disabled several vessels and redirected over 50.
As of Friday, CENTCOM said that over 70 tankers are being prevented from leaving or entering Iranian ports. The ships have the capacity to transport over 166 million barrels of Iranian oil valued at over $13 billion.