Overhead, an American MQ-9 surveillance drone captured video of the Iranian warship’s encounter with the oil tanker. Footage released by the Navy shows multiple flashes popping near the Richmond Voyager — what officials described as “ricocheted rounds” above the commercial vessel.
Additional imagery released by the Navy purports to show ammunition fragments recovered from the Richmond Voyager.
Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Iranian military vessel, having positioned itself within a mile of the Richmond Voyager, had ordered the commercial tanker to stop, according to the Navy’s news release. The guided-missile destroyer USS McFaul was dispatched to the area, forcing the Iranian ship to flee, the Navy said.
The incident occurred in international waters, more than 20 miles off the coast of Muscat, Oman’s capital, as the Richmond Voyager headed toward the Arabian Sea, the Navy said.
The McFaul responded about three hours earlier to a similar incident involving a separate Iranian military vessel that had approached a commercial oil tanker U.S. officials identified as the TRF Moss. That incident, also occurred in international waters, the Navy said. The Moss is registered in the Marshall Islands.
U.S. military officials said that, beginning in May, they had increased the frequency of naval and air patrols in the region following a rise in the number of ship seizures by Iran. The Navy’s release said that, since 2021, “Iran has harassed, attacked or seized nearly 20 internationally flagged merchant vessels, presenting a clear threat to regional maritime security and the global economy.”
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