Share and Follow
The United Nations Navy has ramped up its enforcement of the blockade against Iran, underscored by a recent incident involving American naval forces. A U.S. official disclosed that on Tuesday, an American destroyer intercepted and turned back two oil tankers that were attempting to depart from Iran.
According to the official, who spoke to Reuters on the condition of anonymity, the tankers had set sail from Chabahar, a port city situated on Iran’s southeastern coast along the Gulf of Oman. The U.S. Navy destroyer communicated with the vessels via radio, instructing them to reverse course. Both tankers complied with the directive.
Chabahar holds a strategic position, having been initially constructed in 1983 during the Iran-Iraq War to provide Iran with alternate maritime routes aside from the Persian Gulf. This port has gained increased significance due to substantial investments from the Indian government.
In recent years, India has poured approximately $500 million into expanding Chabahar’s port facilities, enhancing its capacity with additional deep-water berths to accommodate larger cargo ships. This expansion aligns with India’s broader strategy to establish a transportation link through Afghanistan, connecting Chabahar to inland areas that would otherwise require passage through Pakistan or the contested Kashmir region.
India’s efforts mirror China’s infrastructural ambitions under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), specifically through the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which facilitates Chinese exports to the Gulf of Oman. These developments underscore a broader geopolitical shift as nations seek to secure strategic trade routes and enhance their regional influence.
In the summer of 2025, India appeared to liquidate its interests in Chabahar, shortly before the United States imposed heavy sanctions on the port city. The U.S. granted India a six-month waiver from the sanctions on Chabahar — and that waiver is due to expire in less than two weeks.
Some analysts view the April 26 expiration date of the sanctions as a ticking clock on India’s hopes of preserving its huge investments in Chabahar by reaching a long-term sanctions waiver agreement with the United States, or possibly by hoping for the U.S. to lift sanctions on Iran as part of a peace deal.
Last week, after the U.S. temporarily waived sanctions on Iranian oil for ships already loaded with product, India granted special permission for four U.S.-sanctioned vessels to dock at Indian ports to sell their cargo. India’s usual requirements for seaworthiness were waived to allow for a hasty docking. Two of those ships appear to have originated from Chabahar.
It was not clear from the Reuters report if either of the ships intercepted by the U.S. Navy on Tuesday were connected to India. The Pentagon did not respond to a request for more details from Fox News on Wednesday.
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed on Tuesday that “U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyers are among the assets executing a blockade mission impacting Iranian ports.”
“The blockade is being enforced impartially against vessels of all nations entering or leaving coastal areas or ports in Iran,” CENTCOM said.
“A typical destroyer has a crew of more than 300 Sailors that are highly trained in conducting offensive and defensive maritime operations,” the statement added, possibly as fair warning to “shadow fleet” tankers thinking about slipping past the blockade with their usual tactics of false identity and positional broadcasts.
Ship tracking data from the first full day of the blockade on Tuesday suggested that a few shadow fleet ships might have thought about challenging the blockade, but turned back when they got close to those U.S. Navy destroyers.
Noam Raydan of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy told Reuters on Tuesday that it was too early to tell if any ships managed to slip past the blockade by “going dark.”
“We just don’t know yet how effective it is. We are still in day two,” Raydan said.
The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday suggested a complex geopolitical game is being played with the blockade, possibly including the U.S. Navy choosing to be a bit less vigilant against Chinese-linked ships to avoid the high political tensions that would result from boarding or attacking them.
For example, the Jerusalem Post’s analysts believe the China-linked tanker Rich Starry, which made a highly visible U-turn away from the U.S. Navy blockade line on Tuesday, tried again later on Tuesday night and was able to slip through — or was quietly allowed to pass.
“The shadow fleet that moves Iranian oil was built for exactly this game: false flags, spoofed transponders, and ship-to-ship transfers off the coast of Malaysia,” the report noted.
“China’s customs records show zero imports from Iran since 2022, yet its recorded ‘Malaysian’ crude imports in 2025 reached 1.3 million barrels per day, more than double Malaysia’s entire production. That evasion network has been running for years,” it observed.
The Jerusalem Post nevertheless concluded that China’s shipments of Iranian oil would be reduced to a trickle by the blockade, and Beijing does not seem intent on forcing a confrontation with the U.S. by openly challenging it, so China probably will not be coming to Iran’s rescue.