U.S. Central Command released video Saturday of attacks on Iranian oil tankers that came after two Navy warships were targeted by ballistic missiles. (Source: U.S. Central Command)
The U.S. military rejected an Iranian assertion that its forces struck an unmanned American vessel in the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. Central Command spokesperson Capt. Tim Hawkins called the claim "a total lie."
The backstory:
Hawkins was responding after state-run media in Tehran reported that the U.S. vessel was attacked as it tried to enter the strait. The report that Iran had struck the vessel came a day after the U.S. military disabled three of the nation’s oil tankers in response to ballistic missiles being targeted at American ships.
What's next:
A top Iranian official also stated that Tehran will soon announce an "exclusion zone" outside of the strait to help stop ships from crossing the waterway.
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The new head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Mohsen Rezaei, said the details will be announced in the days and weeks ahead, adding that the zone "will begin from the line of the U.S. naval blockade, extend toward the Strait of Hormuz, and from this side continue into the Persian Gulf."
Dig deeper:
Experts described Iran’s targeting of U.S. warships as a dangerous escalation in the current state of the conflict between the two nations, as Tehran’s previous attacks at sea were aimed at commercial shipping.
The Source: Information for this article was taken from The Associated Press. This story was reported from Orlando.