ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - US Central Command (CENTCOM) said early Sunday that it had redirected 12 commercial ships and disabled two and boarded two amid a renewed naval blockade on Iranian ports.
CENTCOM said in a statement that it wanted to “ensure total compliance” with its blockade on Iran.
“Earlier today, U.S. forces completed a verification boarding aboard Comoros-flagged M/T Charminar in the Arabian Sea, and the tanker is now continuing its journey,” it added.
The developments follow the latest round of escalations between Iran and the US, which began on July 8, amid threats from Tehran to launch strikes against regional infrastructure if Iranian facilities are targeted or Iran is barred from exporting oil.
The military operations continue despite the two sides having agreed to the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding in mid-June, which established a ceasefire on all fronts and reopened the Strait of Hormuz to commercial shipping. CENTCOM had reinstated its maritime blockade on July 14.
British maritime security monitor United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said on Saturday that it had received a report of “an incident involving a tanker and military forces in the Gulf of Oman.”
“The situation for the United States is chaotic and undesirable, and they have not achieved their goals in the Strait of Hormuz or in weakening Iran,” General Shokari, Spokesperson for the Iranian army, told Iranian state broadcaster IRIB on Saturday.
On Friday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi condemned a proposal by US President Donald Trump to use frozen Iranian assets to compensate for damages to commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, calling it "an incendiary precedent" and warning that "once governments normalize confiscation, no one's assets are safe."
