Iran fires warning shots at four vessels in Hormuz

Iranian naval forces fired warning shots at four vessels attempting to cross the Strait of Hormuz early Thursday, according to Iranian state media. The incident occurred amid a series of military exchanges between the United States and Iran and ongoing, fragile ceasefire negotiations.

The vessels attempted to enter the Persian Gulf without prior coordination with Iranian security forces, state broadcaster IRIB reported. After the vessels ignored initial warnings, Iranian forces fired warning shots, forcing them to turn back, the report stated. Iranian authorities did not identify the vessels or their destinations. A separate Iranian news report claimed one of the vessels was a U.S. tanker that had turned off its radar system, but this was not corroborated by other accounts.

The maritime confrontation coincided with reported U.S. military action. A U.S. official said American forces intercepted four Iranian attack drones and carried out a strike that destroyed a drone ground-control station in the southern Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas. The official described the U.S. actions as defensive and intended to preserve the ceasefire. Iranian-linked media reported that U.S. forces...