Iran’s navy fires on, seizes foreign cargo ship; US dispatches warship

WASHINGTON — Iranian patrol boats in the Strait of Hormuz fired Tuesday on a cargo ship flying the flag of a U.S.-protected island nation and seized control of the vessel, the Pentagon said. ✧ The Marshall Islands-flagged MV Maersk Tigris was transiting through the waterway when Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps vessels approached the ship and ordered the master to move deeper into Iranian territory. When the master refused, the Iranian boats fired warning shots across the ship’s bow, forcing the master to comply with their demands, according to Pentagon spokesman Col. Steve Warren. ✧ Iranian sailors subsequently boarded the vessel and the Maersk Tigris remains under Iranian control in Iranian waters, Warren said. The U.S. Navy Central Command dispatched the destroyer USS Farragut and reconnaissance aircraft to the area after the master sent a distress call.

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