DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iranian forces fired warning shots across the bridge of a Marshall Islands-flagged cargo vessel as it was traversing the Strait of Hormuz, boarded the ship and directed it toward the Iranian mainland, a Pentagon official said Tuesday.
The incident with the MV Maersk Tigris, prompting the U.S. Navy to dispatch a destroyer and a plane in response, comes at a critical time in negotations over Iran’s nuclear program.
Last week, the U.S. Navy dispatched an aircraft carrier and guided missile cruiser to the Arabian Sea amid worries that a convoy of Iranian cargo ships was headed to Yemen to deliver arms to the Shiite rebels fighting to take over Yemen.
And U.S. Navy officials said that several Iranian Revolutionary Guard Navy vessels had surrounded the U.S.-flagged cargo ship Maersk Kensington on Friday as it was transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
In Tuesday’s incident, the intercepted ship was traveling through the narrow Strait, which is technically Iranian and Omani territorial waters but under international agreement is open to foreign ships making an innocent passage, said Col. Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman.
Iranian TV reported that the 24 crew members hailed from Britain, Bulgaria, Romania and Myanmar. It said the ship was seized based on a court order because of unspecified violations.
