WASHINGTON: A US special operations team in the Indian Ocean raided a ship heading to Iran from China last month and seized military-related items, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing US officials.
The shipment consisted of components potentially useful for Iran’s conventional weapons, an official said, adding that the shipment had been destroyed.
American forces boarded the ship several hundred miles off the coast of Sri Lanka, according to the newspaper, which added that the ship was later allowed to continue.
The operation took place in November, weeks before US forces seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, alleging sanctions violations.
Trump, who has been pressuring Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to resign, had announced earlier this week: “We just seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, a big, very big oil tanker, the largest ever seen, in fact, and other things are happening.”
Officials said the ship was allowed to continue after the raid, which involved special operations forces.
Neither Iran nor China immediately responded to the report.
