Washington accuses Iran of trying to seize two oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz and shooting at a merchant ship off the coast of Muscat

The US Navy on Wednesday accused Iran of trying to seize two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz, saying its forces foiled the operation. Britain's Maritime Trade Operations Authority said shots were fired at an oil tanker off the coast of the Omani capital Muscat.

Tim Hawkins, spokesman for the US Navy's Fifth Fleet, said in press statements that Iran tried to seize the two commercial oil tankers near the Strait of Hormuz early in the day, but the incident was responded to by the US Navy, according to the Associated Press.

Two Iranian ships tried to intercept the tankers, he said, adding that "one of them was shot" to prevent the seizure.

He stressed that the shooting on the Iranian ship did not result in any injuries or serious damage, announcing that the Iranian navy retreated after the US Navy responded to distress signals from the two oil tankers, which continued their journey normally.

Iranian authorities have not commented on the U.S. account of the incident in the Gulf of Oman so far.

The US Navy said that Iran "has detained at least 5 commercial ships over the past two years, and intercepted several others," noting that the majority of incidents occurred within the scope of the Strait of Hormuz.

Shooting

Meanwhile, Britain's Maritime Trade Operations Authority said shots were fired at an oil tanker in Gulf waters on Wednesday without harming the ship or its crew, in the latest in a series of attacks and seizures of ships in the Gulf since 2019.

Britain's Royal Navy said in a report on a suspicious approach that the ship was positioned off the coast of Oman's capital Muscat when the shooting occurred.

Maritime security firm Ambry said the vessel was a Greek-owned Bahamian-flagged tanker operated by a U.S. company.

Based on self-conducted searches, the vessel, which was en route from the UAE to Singapore, had accelerated and changed course because of the incident, it said.

Since 2019, the strategically important waters of the Gulf have seen a series of attacks on cargo ships in times of tension between the United States and Iran. About a fifth of the world's shipments of crude oil and petroleum products pass through the Strait of Hormuz, according to data from analytics firm Vortexa.