US says it fired missile at Iran-bound oil tanker

The US says it has struck and "disabled an unladen oil tanker" that was sailing towards Iran, as part of Washington's naval blockade on the Strait of Hormuz.

US Central Command (Centcom) said a US aircraft fired a Hellfire missile into the engine room of the Botswana-flagged M/T vessel, after its crew "ignored repeated warnings".

Centcom also released a footage purportedly showing the moment the tanker was hit on Tuesday. Iran has not publicly commented on the issue.

The US military began enforcing its blockade of all vessels entering and exiting Iranian ports on 13 April.

In its statement, Centcom said US forces "enforced blockade measures against Botswana-flagged M/T Lexie as it transited international waters toward Kharg Island".

It said the ship's crew had failed "to comply with directions from US forces multiple times over a 24-hour period".

Overall, six commercial vessels have been disabled and another 122 redirected since the blockade went into force, Centcom said.