Special to WorldTribune.com

The Pentagon said a U.S. destroyer has been sent to the scene of a distress call from the Persian Gulf.

U.S. officials are disputing reports by Iran state news agency Fars that Iran’s Navy captured a U.S. cargo ship “for trespassing in Iran’s territorial waters” and a Saudi report that U.S. sailors were on board.

After opening fire across the ship’s bow, Iranian forces boarded the vessel and “escorted it” to the port of Bandar Abbas, according to the Iran report.

Up to 34 American sailors were detained aboard the ship, according to the Saudi-owned Al Arabiya.

The U.S. Fifth Fleet in the Gulf Arab kingdom of Bahrain had no immediate comment on the reports.

However, a Pentagon official confirmed that a Marshall Islands-flagged ship was boarded by the Iranian navy. According to reports, the vessel has been identified as the MV Maersk Tigris.

The ship had no U.S. citizens aboard, the spokesman indicated, adding that it was traveling through the Strait of Hormuz when the incident occurred.

Pentagon spokesman Col. Steve Warren said that after shots were fired the cargo ship had “complied with the Iranian demand and proceeded into Iranian waters in the vicinity of Larak Island.”

Warren said the cargo ship has been boarded by Iranians, but that no Americans are involved.

He said the U.S. Naval Forces Central Command had responded to distress call by sending a U.S. destroyer to the area.

The destroyer was directed “to proceed at best speed to the nearest location of the Maersk Tigris,” he said.

  Iran issue conflicting reports about capture of ship carrying American sailors in Strait of Hormuz, U.S., WorldTribune.com