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        <h1 class="gmail-">Iranian navy forces US destroyer to retreat
          from Sea of Oman</h1>
        <p class="gmail-">The incident comes after Iranian forces seized
          a foreign tanker in the same waters for fuel smuggling earlier
          this month</p>
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          <p><a href="https://thecradle.co/authors/news-desk-9"
              style="color:rgb(164,4,4)" moz-do-not-send="true">News
              Desk</a></p>
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          <p><span style="color:rgb(84,88,94)">JUL 23, 2025 - </span><font
              size="1"><a
href="https://thecradle.co/articles/iranian-navy-forces-us-destroyer-to-retreat-from-sea-of-oman"
                moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-freetext">https://thecradle.co/articles/iranian-navy-forces-us-destroyer-to-retreat-from-sea-of-oman</a></font></p>
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      <div class="gmail-inner-article-img"><img
src="https://thecradle-main.oss-eu-central-1.aliyuncs.com/public/articles/d6925dda-67dc-11f0-b390-00163e02c055.webp"
          alt="" width="467" height="263" style="margin-right: 0px;"
          moz-do-not-send="true"><span>(Photo credit: Lance
          Davis/Huntington Ingalls Industries)</span></div>
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                <p><span style="background-color:transparent">The
                    Iranian naval forces intercepted a US destroyer
                    attempting to approach waters under Tehran\u2019s control
                    in the Sea of Oman, forcing it to turn away, Iranian
                    state television reported on 23 July.</span></p>
                <p><span style="background-color:transparent">According
                    to the report, the army\u2019s naval aviation hovered
                    over the US vessel and issued a warning to stay
                    away. The destroyer responded by threatening to
                    target the Iranian aircraft.</span></p>
                <p><span style="background-color:transparent">\u201cThe
                    Iranian Navy helicopter hovered over the US
                    destroyer, issued a warning, and asked it to stay
                    away,\u201d state media quoted the army officer as
                    saying. \u201cThe US destroyer threatened to target the
                    aircraft, but the Iranian pilot continued his
                    mission and repeated his warning to stay away from
                    Iranian waters.\u201d</span></p>
                <p><span style="background-color:transparent">Following
                    repeated threats from the USS Fitzgerald, the report
                    said the Iranian army\u2019s air defense system
                    \u201cintervened and issued a decisive message\u201d affirming
                    the helicopter was under complete protection and
                    ordering the destroyer to \u201cchange course southward.\u201d</span></p>
                <p><span style="background-color:transparent">On 16
                    July, Iranian authorities seized a </span><a
href="https://thecradle.co/articles/iran-seizes-foreign-tanker-smuggling-fuel-in-gulf-of-oman"
                    moz-do-not-send="true"><span
                      style="background-color:transparent">foreign
                      tanker</span></a><span
                    style="background-color:transparent"> in the Gulf of
                    Oman on charges of fuel smuggling, detaining 17 crew
                    members. </span></p>
                <p><span style="background-color:transparent">Chief
                    Justice of Hormozgan Province Mojtaba Ghahremani
                    said the vessel was carrying two million liters of
                    fuel without proper documentation and had been
                    placed under judicial investigation.</span></p>
                <p><span style="background-color:transparent">\u201cSeventeen
                    individuals, including the tanker's captain and
                    crew, have been detained,\u201d Ghahremani told <i>Mehr
                      News Agency</i>. He added that tests were underway
                    to determine the cargo\u2019s volume and legality.</span></p>
                <p><span style="background-color:transparent">In March
                    2024, Iran joined China and Russia in large-scale </span><a
                    href="https://thecradle.co/articles-id/23859"
                    moz-do-not-send="true"><span
                      style="background-color:transparent">naval drills</span></a><span
                    style="background-color:transparent"> in the Sea of
                    Oman involving over 20 ships and combat
                    helicopters. </span></p>
                <p><span style="background-color:transparent">Russia\u2019s
                    defense ministry said the exercise was meant to
                    \u201cprotect maritime economic activities.\u201d</span></p>
                <p><span style="background-color:transparent">In April
                    2023, Iran seized the Marshall Islands\u2013flagged </span><a
                    href="https://thecradle.co/articles-id/581"
                    moz-do-not-send="true"><span
                      style="background-color:transparent">oil tanker</span></a><span
                    style="background-color:transparent"> Advantage
                    Sweet in the same waters. </span></p>
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