US forces board 'stateless sanctioned' vessel to halt support for Iran

US forces boarded a “stateless sanctioned” vessel in the Indo-Pacific region as part of efforts to disrupt vessels providing support to Iran, the Pentagon said Tuesday.

“Overnight, US forces conducted a right-of-visit, maritime interdiction and boarding of the stateless sanctioned M/T Tifani without incident in the INDOPACOM area of responsibility,” the US Department of Defense said in a post on the US social media company X.

“As we have made clear, we will pursue global maritime enforcement efforts to disrupt illicit networks and interdict sanctioned vessels providing material support to Iran—anywhere they operate,” the department added.

Stressing that international waters are “not a refuge for sanctioned vessels,” the department vowed to continue restricting “illicit actors and their vessels” from operating in the maritime domain.