WASHINGTON: US special operations forces last month boarded a vessel traveling from China to Iran in the Indian Ocean and seized military-related items, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing US officials. According to the report, the cargo included components that could have been used in Iran’s conventional weapons programs. A US official said the seized materials were later destroyed.
The operation took place in November, several hundred miles off Sri Lanka’s coast. After the raid, the vessel was permitted to continue its journey. The action occurred weeks before US forces seized an oil tanker off Venezuela’s coast for alleged sanctions violations.
US President Donald Trump, who has been intensifying pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, said earlier this week that the United States had intercepted a “very large” tanker near Venezuela, adding that “other things are happening.” US officials said special operations forces carried out the raid. Iran and China did not immediately comment on the report.
