US says it has diverted 70 ships enforcing Iran blockade

US forces have redirected 70 commercial vessels, disabled three and boarded two since resuming a naval blockade against Iran, US Central Command said, TASS reported on August 23.

The tally, up from 67 vessels reported on August 20, points to the widening reach of a blockade that Iranian officials say has halted the country's oil exports, and comes as the Trump administration escalates a parallel campaign of economic pressure that Washington has described as the most intensive ever mounted against Tehran.

CENTCOM said the measures were intended to ensure compliance with the blockade, which it resumed on July 14 after the latest round of fighting between Iran and the US.

CENTCOM posted an image of the guided-missile destroyer USS John Finn, saying the vessel was actively enforcing the blockade against Iran in the Arabian Sea. The command said US forces had redirected the ships to ensure compliance.

The blockade of Iranian ports was reimposed following the recent military clashes between Iran and the US and Israel.

Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz after the war began in February, asserting military control over the waterway through which about a fifth of the world's seaborne oil passes.

Even under the blockade, Tehran has kept some crude moving. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps developed an informal permits-for-passage system early in the war, charging up to $2mn per tanker for passage through a controlled corridor near Larak Island, with vessels from China, India and other buyers permitted through. Chinese-flagged ships have continued to use the route in recent days despite the US measures.

The intensified naval pressure coincides with the Trump administration's announcement of a broad campaign to tighten economic sanctions on Iran, which US officials have cast as an unprecedented effort to maximise pressure on the government in Tehran.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said the blockade and sanctions together amount to a "one-two punch" intended to force Tehran to reopen the strait.