US fires Hellfire missile at tanker heading toward Iran

"The ship's crew ignored repeated ⁠warnings, ​failing to comply ⁠with directions from U.S. forces multiple times over a 24-hour period," ⁠Central Command said in a statement. "A U.S. aircraft ultimately disabled ​the vessel by firing a Hellfire missile into the ⁠ship’s engine room, preventing the tanker from reaching Iran." The Lexie is ⁠the ​sixth ship that the U.S. military has disabled since it started its blockade of Iran on ⁠April 13.

​The U.S. military ‌fired a ​Hellfire missile at a tanker heading toward Iran on Tuesday as part ‌of a blockade being imposed by President Donald Trump, who is pressing Tehran to negotiate a peace agreement on his ‌terms.

The U.S. military's Central Command posted a video ‌showing the missile strike the tanker and said it targeted the Botswana-flagged M/T Lexie's engine room, disabling it. "The ship's crew ignored repeated ⁠warnings, ​failing to comply ⁠with directions from U.S. forces multiple times over a 24-hour period," ⁠Central Command said in a statement.

"A U.S. aircraft ultimately disabled ​the vessel by firing a Hellfire missile into the ⁠ship’s engine room, preventing the tanker from reaching Iran." The Lexie is ⁠the ​sixth ship that the U.S. military has disabled since it started its blockade of Iran on ⁠April 13. The U.S. military says it has also redirected 122 ⁠vessels ⁠that were seeking to enter or exit Iranian ports so far.