US forces fired two missiles at the Panama-flagged container ship Vela Nova in the Gulf of Oman on August 11, 2026, after the vessel ignored repeated warnings and continued toward an Iranian port. The missiles, launched from a US Navy MH-60 helicopter, hit the rudder or engine room area and caused a fire that was later extinguished, while the crew was unharmed. The strike took place about 71 nautical miles off Pakistan's coast and marks one of the most direct uses of force in Washington’s months-long campaign to restrict maritime commerce with Tehran. The US naval blockade targeting Iranian ports was first imposed in April 2026 under President Trump’s administration, briefly lifted in June, and reinstated on July 14. Iran has denounced the blockade as illegal economic warfare. The incident unfolded near the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping corridor through which roughly a fifth of the world’s oil supply passes each day.