PRECIOUS METALS | U.S. Military Fires Hellfire Missile at Oil Tanker Headed to Iran

The U.S. Central Command stated on July 15 that U.S. forces fired a Hellfire missile at a commercial oil tanker attempting to sail to Iran's Kharg Island in the Arabian Sea, as part of a maritime blockade against Iran. According to Jin10, the U.S. military said the tanker, the M/T Belma flying the flag of Curaçao, ignored multiple warnings while navigating international waters and tried to violate U.S. blockade regulations. A U.S. aircraft then launched a Hellfire missile at the vessel's smokestack, disabling it and stopping its progress toward Iran. The U.S. noted that since resuming the maritime blockade on vessels traveling to and from Iranian ports and coastal areas at 4:00 p.m. U.S. Eastern Time on July 14, it had guided two compliant commercial ships to change course and stopped one non-compliant vessel within the first 24 hours. The U.S. military said it would remain vigilant to ensure the blockade is enforced.