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3. US Tanker Approached by Iranian Gunboats in Strait of Hormuz

A US-flagged tanker was approached and challenged on Tuesday by Iranian gunboats in the Strait of Hormuz, before continuing on its way, US Central Command said.

CENTCOM spokesman Captain Tim Hawkins said two Iranian boats and a drone approached the US-flagged ship M/V Stena Imperative "at high speeds and threatened to board and seize the tanker."

An American destroyer -- the USS McFaul -- responded with support from the US Air Force and escorted the tanker, which is now "proceeding safely," Hawkins added.

British maritime security firm Vanguard Tech had earlier reported that the Stena Imperative was approached by three pairs of small armed boats belonging to the Revolutionary Guards while transiting the strait approximately 16 nautical miles (30 kilometres) north of Oman.

The gunboats hailed it by radio, ordering the captain "to stop the engines and prepare to be boarded", but the ship increased speed and maintained course, the firm added, stressing it did not enter Iranian territorial waters.

Earlier, the British maritime security agency UKMTO reported the incident without specifying the nationality of the ship or the boats that approached it.

The Iranian news agency Fars said a vessel, whose nationality it did not specify, had entered the country's territorial waters in the Strait of Hormuz illegally, at which point Iranian units "requested" that it present the necessary permissions.

"The vessel had no legal authorisation to be in these waters," Fars said. "It was therefore warned and immediately left Iranian waters."

The strait, a key passage for the global transport of oil and liquefied natural gas, has been the scene of several incidents in the past.

A senior Iranian official from the naval forces of the Revolutionary Guards, the ideological army of the Islamic republic, threatened last week to block the passage in the event of a US attack.

US President Donald Trump has threatened military action against Iran and sent a flotilla of warships to the Middle East following anti-government protests in Iran that were met with a deadly crackdown last month.

Trump has said he is hopeful Washington will "work something out" with Tehran, but also warned that "bad things would happen" if a deal was not reached. Iran meanwhile insists it wants diplomacy while promising a decisive response to any aggression.

AFP