Middle East
US marines rappel out of an MH-60S Sea Hawk during scheduled training aboard USS Tripoli, supporting the US blockade against Iran. Photo: CENTCOM/X
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - US forces have redirected 72 vessels to and from Iranian ports through the Strait of Hormuz, US Central Command (CENTCOM) reported on Friday, adding that four others have been “disabled” since the onset of maritime restrictions on Iran in mid-April.
“Since the start of the blockade, CENTCOM forces have redirected 72 commercial ships and disabled four,” the Command said in a post on X.
The statement comes amid heightened regional tensions following a wide-scale US-Israeli aerial campaign against Iran launched on February 28, which reportedly struck more than 17,000 sites over six weeks of hostilities. A Pakistan-mediated ceasefire was reached on April 8.
CENTCOM Commander Brad Cooper, testifying before the US Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday, said that “in just the last 30 months prior to the commencement of [Operation] Epic Fury [against Iran], Iranian-supported terror groups have attacked U.S. troops and diplomats more than 350 times - the equivalent of an attack more than every third day, killing four U.S. service members and wounding nearly 200 more.”
“U.S. Central Command was created in direct response to the threats posed by the Islamic Republic of Iran, and I am the 16th CENTCOM commander to deal with the Iranian problem set,” Cooper added, saying that “for 47 years, the Iranian regime has terrorized the region and made hostility to the United States a core tenet of its rule.”
The Islamabad-brokered truce temporarily halted fighting and opened the door to negotiations, though the first round of talks ended without a final agreement on April 11. A second round has yet to take place, and a comprehensive resolution remains elusive.
In parallel with the diplomatic efforts, Iran and the US have engaged in tit-for-tat maritime measures. Tehran has tightened its grip on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, while Washington initiated a maritime blockade on Iranian ports on April 13.
Amid the maritime escalation, US President Donald Trump told reporters on Monday that “the ceasefire is on massive life support, where the doctor walks in and says, 'Sir, your loved one has approximately a one percent chance of living.”
A day earlier, Trump had rejected Iran’s response to a US proposal aimed at ending months of conflict. “I have just read the response from Iran’s so-called ‘Representatives.’ I don’t like it - TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE!” he wrote on his Truth Social platform.
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