US disables another ship trying to breach the Iran naval blockade
U.S. forces have disabled another ship trying to break the American naval blockade of Iran's ports.
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said an aircraft fired munitions at the stern of the cargo vessel M/V Huda to disable it. This is the 11th ship CENTCOM has disabled since it began the blockade in July.
The war against Iran began in February with joint American-Israeli strikes on the country. The opening strikes killed a host of top Iranian officials and commanders, among them Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
On February 28, President Donald Trump announced "major combat operations" against Iran.
Talks between the U.S. and Iran remain stalled despite the two countries signing a memorandum of understanding in June, aimed at ending the war. The two sides have continued to exchange strikes, though they have not returned to the intense fighting seen in the early stages of the conflict.
The U.S. says it is enforcing a naval blockade of the country's Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman ports. Iran, meanwhile, claims control over the strategic Strait of Hormuz and continues to claim attacks on shipping transiting the waterway.
On Saturday, the Navy of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said in a statement that two oil tankers had exploded and were on fire after striking mines in the east of the Strait of Hormuz, the Islamic Republic News Agency reported.
The IRGC accused the two tankers of attempting to transit via an "unauthorized route" and of deactivating their navigation and positioning systems.
Earlier on Saturday, CENTCOM announced the establishment of a 20-person team called "Task Force Iron Gate" that will work with other agencies to prevent Iran from using land routes to transport advanced weapons.
Meanwhile, intensified fighting between Saudi-backed Yemeni forces and Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen has seen the latter repeatedly attack Saudi military, oil infrastructure and transport facilities.
Yemen's Houthis claim to have attacked Riyadh Airport and Aramco oil facilities in Saudi Arabia on Saturday. These claims have not been verified, and authorities in Saudi Arabia have not reported damage from attacks at these locations.
The group claimed it conducted six operations "using a large number of ballistic and cruise missiles, and drones" targeting Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, oil storage tanks and towers belonging to Aramco in Khurais, and the Dawadmi area, according to a spokesman for the Houthi military, Brig. Gen. Yahya Sareea.
Sarea also claimed the Houthis had hit Saudi soldiers in several areas, "inflicting a large number of casualties."
Asked by a reporter about reported strikes near Qeshm Island in Iran on Friday, President Donald Trump downplayed them as short and defensive. "I don't want to talk about it. We do minor strikes, but they knock out. They built a little bit of an anti-aircraft device, and we knocked it out in about 15 minutes, maybe five."
Trump also said there has been "progress" on a deal with Iran.
