A vessel belonging to the US Navy has reportedly caught fire in the northern Persian Gulf near the Iraqi port cities of Al-Bakr and Al-Amaya.

Informed military sources said on Monday that the US Navy had secretly moved the vessel to the coasts of Kuwait after the fire broke out, Iran's Arabic-language TV channel Al-Alam reported.

The sources did not rule out the possibility that a blast had started the fire on the vessel that was said to be "one of the four US warships in the region," the report added.

The US military has not yet commented on the report.

SB/DA/IR