U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces began setting conditions for clearing mines in the Strait of Hormuz, April 11, as two U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyers conducted operations. U.S. Central Command Photo<\/p>\n
Iran Says It Turns Back US Warship From Strait of Hormuz, US Official Denies Missile Strike<\/p>\n
By Tala Ramadan and Jacob Bogage<\/p>\n
DUBAI\/DORAL, Florida, May 4 (Reuters)\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Iran said it had forced a U.S. warship to turn back from entering the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, but a U.S. official denied a report that it had been struck by Iranian missiles, according to an Axios journalist.<\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s navy said it had prevented \u201cAmerican-Zionist\u201d warships entering the Strait of Hormuz area by issuing a \u201cswift and decisive warning.\u201d<\/p>\n
Iran\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, where Iran\u2019s navy has a base, but a senior U.S. official immediately denied the report, Axios\u2019 Barak Ravid said.<\/p>\n
Reuters could not independently verify the reports.<\/p>\n
Iran had warned U.S. forces on Monday not to enter the strategic waterway after President Donald Trump said the United States would \u201cguide out\u201d ships stranded in the Gulf by the U.S.-Israeli<\/p>\n
Trump gave few details of the plan to aid ships and their crews that have been confined to the vital waterway and are running low on food and other supplies more than two months into the conflict.<\/p>\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.<\/p>\n
In response, Iran\u2019s unified command told commercial ships and oil tankers to refrain from any movement that was not coordinated with Iran\u2019s military.<\/p>\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.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe warn that any foreign armed forces, especially the aggressive U.S. Army, will be attacked if they intend to approach and enter the Strait of Hormuz.\u201d<\/p>\n
Iran has blocked nearly all\u00a0shipping\u00a0into 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<\/p>\n
sending oil prices soaring<\/p>\n
U.S. Central Command, which for its part is blockading Iranian ports to put pressure on Tehran, said it would support the rescue effort with 15,000 military personnel and more than 100 land- and sea-based aircraft, plus warships and drones.<\/p>\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