British and American patrol groups in the Gulf of Hormuz prevented Iranian boats from seizing a merchant vessel.

According to the Central Command of the US Navy, the destroyer USS McFaul and the frigate of the UK Royal Navy HMS Lancaster both received the distress call from a vessel flying an international flag.

The crew reported that their vessel was being pursued by 3 armed boats.

The first to help was the UK Royal Navy frigate HMS Lancaster, from which the Wildcat maritime attack helicopter took off.

US 5th Fleet also directed a P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft to monitor the scene.

The situation deescalated approximately an hour later and the ship continued its journey.

This is not the first case of such actions by the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy.

On May 10, 2021, Militarnyi reported that ships of the US Navy and Coast Guard opened fire on an Iranian boat.

Boats of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps escorted the submarine USS Georgia of the US Navy.

13 speedboats gradually approached the group of American ships at a distance of 150 meters.

A month earlier, on April 13, 2021, an attack on an Israeli ship took place in the Gulf of Oman.

The incident was recorded not far from the emirate of Al-Fujairah, before the ship was attacked by a missile launched from an Iranian ship or a drone.

Additionally, on 23 February 2023, it was reported that Royal Navy frigate HMS Lancaster intercepted a contraband cargo carrying the speedboat in international waters near Iran. Speedboat was transporting contraband weapons.

Smugglers tried to avoid the pursuit of a patrol helicopter moving towards Iranian territorial waters. There, Iran-backed Houthi rebels wage a decades-long civil war against Yemen’s internationally recognized government, which is backed by a Saudi-led coalition.

The speedboat ignored orders to stop, but was intercepted by a British frigate before the crew could escape.