US says naval blockade against Iran remains in effect

A US naval blockade against Iran remains in full effect, the US military’s Central Command (CENTCOM) said Saturday.

As of July 25, US forces had redirected 12 commercial vessels attempting to breach the blockade, disabled two that failed to comply and boarded two others to verify compliance, CENTCOM said in a statement on US social media company X.

US forces completed a verification boarding of the Comoros-flagged oil tanker M/T Charminar in the Arabian Sea earlier Saturday, after which the vessel continued its journey, according to the command.

CENTCOM also said US forces disabled the Mozambique-flagged M/T Lavine in the Gulf of Oman on Friday after its crew repeatedly attempted to violate the blockade and ignored multiple warnings.

The vessel is no longer heading toward Iran, it added.