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Over 10,000 U.S. servicemembers are participating in the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, executing on President Donald Trump’s command to ensure no ships enter or depart Iranian ports.
According to the U.S. Central Command, the blockade, which was implemented on Monday, includes U.S. Sailors, Marines, and Airmen across more than a dozen warships and several dozen aircraft.
No ships made it past the blockade within the first 24 hours, CENTCOM said. Another six “merchant vessels” were intercepted by U.S. forces and agreed to turn around.
“The blockade is being enforced impartially against vessels of all nations entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas, including all Iranian ports on the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman,” CENTCOM clarified.
The blockade on the Strait of Hormuz was ordered by President Donald Trump following failed peace negotiations with Iran over the weekend. Reopening the Strait has been the primary focus of these talks, as it is necessary to free up the flow of energy in the region.
And, while the Trump administration has said that the Iranian Navy has been defeated, some threats remain.
“Iran’s Navy is laying at the bottom of the sea, completely obliterated – 158 ships,” President Trump said on Truth Social on Monday.
He continued, “What we have not hit are their small number of, what they call, ‘fast attack ships,’ because we did not consider them much of a threat. Warning: If any of these ships come anywhere close to our BLOCKADE, they will be immediately ELIMINATED, using the same system of kill that we use against the drug dealers on boats at Sea. It is quick and brutal.”
As the blockade remains in place, at least 121 empty oil tankers are steaming west to the Gulf of America, where they will fill up at American refineries amid this global reshuffling.