US disables tanker in Arabian Gulf during Iran blockade enforcement

The United States said its forces disabled a Curacao-flagged oil tanker in the Arabian Gulf after the vessel ignored repeated warnings and continued toward an Iranian port. According to US Central Command, the unladen M/T Belma was transiting international waters toward Kharg Island when it was stopped. The vessel was hit after a US aircraft fired Hellfire missiles into its smokestack, CENTCOM said.

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CENTCOM said the tanker had attempted to violate what it described as a US blockade. In a statement posted on social media, the command said the ship was no longer transiting to Iran after the strike. It also said the blockade against vessels travelling to or from Iranian ports and coastal areas resumed at 4 p.m.

ET on 14 July. The command said that in the first 24 hours of enforcement it had redirected two compliant commercial vessels and disabled one non-compliant vessel. That suggests the operation is being applied immediately and at sea, rather than through warnings alone.

The incident also indicates that US forces are prepared to use direct action against ships they say are defying the restrictions. The move matters because shipping through the Arabian Gulf is central to regional trade and energy flows, and Kharg Island is a key Iranian oil terminal. Any enforcement action in these waters can affect commercial routing, insurance risk and the behaviour of ship operators.

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It also raises the stakes around US-Iran maritime tensions, particularly where vessels are accused of moving toward Iranian ports. The latest action appears to be part of a broader effort to stop traffic to and from Iranian coastal areas. CENTCOM's account suggests the blockade is being enforced against both compliant and non-compliant vessels, with the latter facing disabling measures.

The use of missiles against a commercial tanker is a significant escalation in maritime enforcement terms, even though no casualties were reported in the available information. What remains unclear is the tanker's condition, whether it sustained lasting damage beyond the smokestack strike, and how the crew was affected. It is also not clear how many more vessels may be targeted under the resumed blockade or how long the enforcement operation will continue.

The next developments to watch are any further CENTCOM statements, the response from shipping operators, and whether traffic patterns in the Arabian Gulf change in the coming days.

#ArabianGulf #maritimesecurity #USCentralCommand #Iranblockade #KhargIsland

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