Navy stops Iran from seizing 2 commercial ships

The U.S. Navy prevented Iranian forces from seizing two commercial tanker ships in the Gulf of Oman on Wednesday morning, the service announced in a news release.

During the first seizure attempt, Iranian forces approached a Marshall Islands-flagged vessel but left the scene once a U.S. destroyer arrived and deployed aircraft to patrol the area, the Navy said.

The Navy received a distress call hours later from a Bahamian-flagged tanker off the coast of Oman. Several shots were fired from an Iranian vessel — including from crewed members onboard — at the tanker before U.S. forces arrived and halted the seizure attempt, the Navy said.