Iran\u2019s navy says it prevented \u201cAmerican-Zionist\u201d warships from entering Strait area by issuing warning
\n DUBAI\/DORAL
\nIran said it had forced a US warship to turn back from entering the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, although US Central Command quickly denied a report of a missile strike.
\nA senior Iranian official told Reuters Iran had fired a warning shot and that it was unclear whether the warship had been damaged.
\nOil prices jumped 5% on renewed concerns that the vital oil route, already shut for over two months at huge cost to the global economy, would remain blocked for considerably longer, with little sign of progress towards a negotiated resolution of Washington\u2019s conflict with Iran.
\nIran\u2019s navy said it had prevented \u201cAmerican-Zionist\u201d warships from entering the Strait area by issuing a \u201cswift and decisive warning\u201d.
\nIran\u2019s semi-official Fars news agency said two missiles had hit the warship near the port of Jask at the southern entrance to the strait, but Centcom denied that any warship had been struck.
\nIt said its forces were supporting President Donald Trump\u2019s \u201cProject Freedom\u201d, which aims to \u201cguide out\u201d commercial ships stranded in the Gulf by the US-Israeli war on Iran, and were enforcing a blockade of Iranian ports.
\nTrump gave few details of his plan to aid ships and their crews who have been confined to the vital waterway and are running low on food and other supplies. Shipping companies gave no sign of being ready to resume sailings.
\n\u201cWe have told these Countries that we will guide their Ships safely out of these restricted Waterways, so that they can freely and ably get on with their business,\u201d Trump said in a post on his Truth Social site on Sunday.
\nIranian military\u2019s warning
\nIn response to Trump\u2019s announcement, Iran\u2019s unified command told commercial ships and oil tankers to refrain from any movement that was not coordinated with Iran\u2019s military.
\n\u201cWe have repeatedly said the security of the Strait of Hormuz is in our hands and that the safe passage of vessels needs to be coordinated with the armed forces,\u201d Ali Abdollahi, head of the forces\u2019 unified command, said in the statement.
\n\u201cWe warn that any foreign armed forces, especially the aggressive US Army, will be attacked if they intend to approach and enter the Strait of Hormuz.\u201d
\nIran has blocked nearly all shipping into and out of the Gulf apart from its own since the start of the war, cutting off around a fifth of the world\u2019s oil and gas shipments and sending oil prices soaring by 50% or more.
\nCentcom said it would support Trump\u2019s \u201cProject Freedom\u201d with 15,000 military personnel and more than 100 land- and sea-based aircraft, plus warships and drones.
\n\u201cOur support for this defensive mission is essential to regional security and the global economy as we also maintain the naval blockade,\u201d Admiral Brad Cooper, the Centcom commander, said in a statement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Iran\u2019s navy says it prevented \u201cAmerican-Zionist\u201d warships from entering Strait area by issuing warning DUBAI\/DORAL Iran said it had forced a US warship to turn back from entering the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, although US Central Command quickly denied a report of a missile strike. A senior Iranian official told Reuters Iran had fired […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":544714,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-544690","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n