MUSCAT — Oman said Friday it had rescued 25 sailors from a merchant ship set ablaze in an attack, as Iran reported three oil tankers were halted while crossing the Strait of Hormuz.

Tehran has restricted maritime traffic through the strait since the Middle East war erupted on February 28 with US-Israeli strikes on the Islamic republic.

The narrow waterway, which normally carries about a fifth of global oil, has become a focal point of the conflict, with ships regularly coming under Iranian fire.

Muscat’s navy “carried out an evacuation operation for 25 crew members of the merchant ship RITI, flying the Panamanian flag, after it was targeted, which led to a fire breaking out on board,” Oman’s Maritime Security Centre said in a statement.

The crew members were provided with medical care, the Omani statement said, without giving details.

The Marine Traffic ship-tracking website described the RITI as a crude oil tanker.

US Central Command chief Brad Cooper said in a video released on Friday that US forces had “successfully cleared the strait’s internationally recognised primary transit routes of Iranian sea mines”.

US forces remain “present to ensure that all primary transit routes in the Strait of Hormuz remain free and clear,” he added.

Cooper said he visited some of the more than 50,000 US service members in the region, repeating earlier statements that Washington has helped Gulf countries export more than 1.5 billion barrels of crude via the strait since summer.

British maritime security agency UKMTO said that a ship 40 nautical miles (74 kilometres) south of Lavan island in Iran was struck on Friday by an unknown projectile, which caused a fire onboard.