US Central Command said that Iranian forces backed by two ships and a helicopter had captured a ship in international waters.
The leadership added in a tweet on its Twitter account that the ship was called "Wella", without speaking of its identity, and published a video recording of the seizure.
Today in international waters, Iranian forces, including two ships and an Iranian "Sea King" helicopter, overtook and boarded a ship called the 'Wila.' pic.twitter.com/455UQ5jwHT
- US Central Command (@CENTCOM) August 12, 2020
The waters in the region constitute an arena of tension between the United States and Iran, especially with Washington's assassination of the Iranian Quds Force commander, Qassem Soleimani.
Last April, Washington said that Iranian boats had dangerously close to a distance of meters only from US warships in the northern Gulf, and considered this a provocation.
At the time, US President Donald Trump threatened that the US Navy would use force directly in the event that US ships were exposed again to what Washington described as harassment by Iranian Revolutionary Guard boats.
Tehran responded to the words of its Defense Minister, Major General Amir Hatami, that the Iranian armed forces are ready to confront any threat that may be exposed to Iranian territory in the future.
It is noteworthy that the United States assassinated, at the beginning of this year, the commander of the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Qassem Soleimani, at Baghdad airport, and Tehran promised that his killing would be followed by what it called a strategic retaliation that ends the American presence in the region, while Trump threatened to strike 52 targets in Iran.