US Central Command has redirected 30 commercial vessels, disabled two non-compliant ships and boarded two others in the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman since resuming its naval blockade around Iran on July 14. Nearly 30 vessels carrying humanitarian cargo passed through the same enforcement zone during that span.
US Central Command redirected 30 commercial vessels, disabled two non-compliant ships and boarded two more in the weeks since it resumed its naval blockade around Iran on July 14, the command reported on July 31. Nearly 30 vessels carrying humanitarian aid were waved through the same blockade zone over that period.
A blockade with teeth
Within the first 24 hours of the resumed blockade, forces redirected two compliant vessels and disabled one non-compliant ship with a Hellfire missile strike. The current phase began at 4 p.m. ET on July 14 and continues a broader campaign that first ran from April 13 to June 18.
During that earlier stretch, CENTCOM redirected over 140 vessels, disabled nine and allowed more than 50 humanitarian ships through. By mid-May, about a month into that first phase, cumulative figures showed 67 vessels redirected, four disabled and 15 humanitarian vessels permitted passage. Hellfire missile strikes against non-compliant tankers in the Arabian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman formed part of the enforcement toolkit during that period, targeting vessels that failed to comply after warnings.
The humanitarian carve-out
Nearly 30 humanitarian vessels cleared through during a roughly two-and-a-half-week window in the current phase. The earlier 66-day blockade let more than 50 humanitarian ships pass over its longer run. CENTCOM has not publicly named any individual vessels or companies in either phase.
Why this matters beyond the Gulf
The Strait of Hormuz, which borders Iran, handles roughly a fifth of the world's oil supply on any given day. The blockade resumed after a roughly four-week pause between June 18 and July 14, a gap that suggests the US views the initial enforcement period as either incomplete or as one interval in a longer pressure campaign.
Source: Crypto Briefing
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