US forces have boarded a VLCC carrying Iranian oil in the Indian Ocean as part of Washington's ongoing blockade of ships entering or exiting Iranian ports.
"Overnight, US forces carried out a maritime interdiction and right-of-visit boarding of the sanctioned stateless vessel M/T Majestic X transporting oil from Iran," the country's defence department said on Thursday in a post on social media platform X.
"We will continue global maritime enforcement to disrupt illicit networks and interdict vessels providing material support to Iran, wherever they operate."
Kpler tracking data show the Majestic X — which has IMO ship identification number 9198317 — loaded 1.88mn bl of Iranian crude from the Jask terminal and was en route to Zhoushan in China when US forces stopped it in the Indian Ocean. The tanker was operating under a false flag at the time of the interdiction, according to the IMO's database.
Other crude tankers intercepted during the US blockade include the VLCCs Diona and Tifani. The US Navy also seized the Iranian-flagged container ship Touska on 19 April while it was en route to Bandar Abbas in Iran.
Tehran had vowed to respond to any US hostile act against Iranian vessels. On 22 April, Iranian forces fired at two cargo ships in the strait of Hormuz, despite US president Donald Trump saying the previous day that the ceasefire with Iran would be extended.
Trump claimed in a social media post today that the US has "total control" over the strait. "No ship can enter or leave without the approval of the United States Navy". He also said he has ordered the US Navy to "shoot and kill" any boats laying mines in the strait.
In practice, the blockade is not being implemented close to Iranian ports or within the strait of Hormuz, but instead is being enforced around 300 miles west, between the Pakistani/Iranian border and Oman, according to vessel tracking firm Vortexa.
