The United Nations Navy is ramping up efforts to enforce the blockade on Iran. A U.S. official revealed that on Tuesday, an American destroyer intercepted two oil tankers trying to leave Iran, turning them back.
According to the U.S. official, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, the tankers had set sail from Chabahar, a port on the Gulf of Oman. The U.S. Navy destroyer communicated via radio, instructing the vessels to return, and both complied with the directive.
Chabahar, located on Iran’s southeastern coast, was built in 1983 to provide an alternative shipping route during the Iran-Iraq War. The port was crucial in bypassing the Persian Gulf’s conflict zones.
Recently, India has invested approximately $500 million in developing the Chabahar port. This expansion includes adding deep-water berths to accommodate larger cargo ships, enhancing its capacity significantly.
These investments coincide with India’s efforts to construct a railway through Afghanistan, connecting Chabahar to inland destinations. This railway aims to bypass routes through Pakistan or contested regions like Kashmir, similar to China’s strategy with its Belt and Road Initiative, which uses the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor to access the Gulf of Oman.
By mid-2025, India seemed to divest from Chabahar, just as the U.S. imposed stringent sanctions on the port. Although the U.S. had granted India a six-month waiver from these sanctions, this exemption is set 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.
