U.S. military turned back six ships in first 24 hours of Iranian port blockade
During the first 24 hours of the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports, U.S. warships issued warnings to six ships, urging them to turn around, a U.S. official said Tuesday.
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No shots were fired during the clashes, the official said, and U.S. personnel did not board any of the ships before they changed course.
Five of the ships were carrying oil, according to the official. The contents of the sixth ship were not immediately clear. Two of the ships carrying oil turned back within two hours after the blockade took effect Monday morning.
President Donald Trump announced the blockade a day earlier after negotiations with the Iranians failed to produce a deal to end the war. Since fighting began Friday evening, traffic across the Strait of Hormuz has come to a near standstill, causing prices of oil and other essential goods to rise.
The U.S. military is using more than 100 American fighter and surveillance aircraft to enforce the blockade, as well as more than a dozen ships.
The official said the United States stops ships when they enter the Gulf of Oman after passing through the Strait of Hormuz. The United States has more than a dozen ships in the Gulf of Oman and it makes no sense to move them to the Persian Gulf where they may be in greater danger, the official added.
Instead, the United States can use surveillance aircraft, manned aircraft and at-sea surveillance systems like radar to identify ships leaving Iranian ports and coastal areas and communicate with them by radio to let them know they are violating the blockade and should turn around after passing through the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. official said.
The US military is ordering ships to return to Iranian ports in the Gulf of Oman, rather than returning through the Strait of Hormuz, because they have more options and means in the Gulf of Oman to enforce the blockade.
So far, no ships have refused, but if they do, the U.S. military has full authority to use force to stop them, the official said, including using fighter jets or ships to fire on the ships.
The official does not know whether ships that transited and continued on their way – such as the Chinese tanker Rich Starry – paid tribute to the Iranians. The official reiterated that the Starry was not violating the terms of the U.S. blockade because it came from the United Arab Emirates and the U.S. military had not ordered it to turn around.
