No breaches of Iran blockade in its first 24 hours, says CENTCOM

The US military claimed Tuesday that there had been no breaches of its naval blockade of Iran in its first 24 hours, with American forces turning back six merchant vessels attempting to leave one of the country’s Gulf of Oman ports.

“No ships made it past the U.S. blockade and 6 merchant vessels complied with direction from U.S. forces to turn around to re-enter an Iranian port on the Gulf of Oman,” US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement.

CENTCOM said that over 10,000 US “Sailors, Marines, and Airmen” were part of the mission, along with more than 12 warships and “dozens of aircraft.”

It said the measure was being enforced “impartially against vessels of all nations entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas, including all Iranian ports on the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman.”

After US-Iran talks in Islamabad seeking to end the conflict in the Middle East hit an impasse Saturday, US President Donald Trump vowed to blockade Iranian ports to force Tehran back to the negotiating table.

Trump announced a naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which took effect at 2 pm GMT Monday.

Citing two US officials, The Wall Street Journal reported later Tuesday that as of roughly 11 pm GMT, a total of 20 commercial ships had passed through the Strait of Hormuz over a span of 24 hours, including cargo, container and tanker vessels.