The US military has been blocking Iranian ports since April 13th, preventing oil tankers from entering and exiting. So far, 38 ships have turned back, with around $1.05 billion worth of crude oil intercepted and diverted back to Iranian ports by the US Navy.
TankerTrackers, a ship tracking website, confirmed this discovery on Sunday, April 26th, through satellite images showing oil tankers carrying Iranian crude oil returning to Iran.
In a post on the X platform, TankerTrackers also mentioned, “The US Coast Guard intercepted around $380 million worth of Iranian crude oil in the Indian Ocean.” The company stated that this batch of oil appeared to be heading towards the US.
On April 23rd, the Pentagon announced that the US military intercepted a sanctioned stateless oil tanker named “Majestic X” in the Indian Ocean and boarded it for inspection. The tanker was transporting oil from Iran to Zhoushan, Zhejiang. The US Navy also intercepted and boarded another stateless vessel, the M/T Tifani, transporting Iranian oil in the Indian Ocean.
The US Central Command (CENTCOM) also stated on Sunday that the US military continues to prevent ships from entering Iranian ports, with “the US military directing 38 ships to turn around or return to port.”
The command further added, “Multiple ships and helicopters” are enforcing the blockade around Iranian ports in the Middle East. Photos released on the X platform show a US sailor conducting pre-flight checks on an MH-60R ‘Seahawk’ helicopter aboard the USS John Finn (DDG 113).
US Defense Secretary Hagsees emphasized on April 24th, “Without permission from the US Navy, no one is allowed to sail from the Strait of Hormuz to anywhere in the world.”
“For the Tehran regime, the blockade is tightening at an astonishing pace. We control the situation. No entries or exits are possible,” he said. “The US military power is unmatched, capable of projecting force, stopping hostile forces from passing, and protecting our interests at the time and place of our choosing.”
Miad Maleki, a researcher at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), estimates that the blockade will cost Iran $435 million in economic activity per day and force the shutdown of Iranian oil fields within two weeks.
On Sunday, President Trump reiterated in an interview with Fox News that the US’s bottom line is still to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
“Once they have nuclear weapons, Israel will be destroyed within minutes. So we can’t let Iran have nuclear weapons. This should have been done by previous presidents. This should have been done within 40 or 47 years. This situation has been going on for 40 years without anyone taking action. We have to take action,” the President said.
He also stated that the war will end soon, with the US emerging as the ultimate victor, but Iran must not possess nuclear weapons.
The President also mentioned that the US Navy is clearing Iranian mines in the Strait of Hormuz.