Iranian navy seizes ship in Strait of Hormuz

The Iranian Navy has seized an American cargo ship with all its 34 crew for trespassing on Iran's territorial waters in the Persian Gulf, according to local reports.

The local FARS news agency said an Iranian warship was taking the American vessel to Iran's Southern port city of Bandar Abbas in the Persian Gulf.

Saudi newswire Al Arabiya reported the US ship had been fired on and steered to the port.

But the Pentagon later denied the ship, the Maersk Tigris, a Marshall Islands-flagged cargo vessel, was carrying any US citizens aboard as it traveled through the Strait of Hormuz, which connects the Arabian Sea and Persian Gulf, when the incident occurred.

The US has sent a nearby destroyer vessel and aircraft to monitor the ship, Pentagon spokesman Colonel Steve Warren said.

There has been no official confirmation of the seizure yet, the agency added.