The Iranian military fired several warning shots at and boarded a Marshall Island-flagged ship in the Persian Gulf on Monday.
According to CNBC, none of the 34 people on board the cargo ship were injured. The Iran Ports Authority requested the seizure of the ship under a court order. The ship, named the MV Maersk Tigris, was monitored by U.S. planes and a destroyer after it made a distress call in the Strait of Hormuz, Reuters reported.
The Iranian forces ordered the ship to sail deeper into Iranian waters after firing the warning shots, the Pentagon announced. It was then redirected by the Iranian forces to go to the port of Bandar Abbas.
As Reuters points out, Iran has used the threat of closing the Strait of Hormuz in the past as a statement to loosen global opposition to the country's controversial nuclear program.
President Obama has not made a statement regarding the event yet because he is meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for a joint news conference. Iranian officials also have not made a statement on the matter yet.
