The war between the United States and Iran is no longer being fought only through missiles, airstrikes, and diplomatic statements. Increasingly, the confrontation is shifting onto trade routes, ports, financial flows, and control over who is still allowed to move through one of the most important regions of the global economy. On Tuesday, U.S. Central Command reported another incident in the Persian Gulf. According to the military, American forces stopped the seventh commercial vessel that had allegedly attempted to break the American blockade of Iranian ports. The vessel involved was the Botswana flagged M\/T Lexie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the military\u2019s account, the crew ignored repeated warnings from U.S. forces for more than 24 hours. An American aircraft ultimately fired a Hellfire missile into the ship\u2019s engine room, disabling it. According to later reports, the incident took place near Kharg Island in the Persian Gulf, an area that has been central to Iran\u2019s oil economy for decades. The M\/T Lexie was not the first case. Just days earlier, American forces had stopped another commercial vessel, the Lian Star, in a similar manner. According to the military, this brought the number of disabled commercial ships to six, although one was later allowed to continue its voyage. In addition, 122 vessels have now reportedly been redirected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n