The U.S. military boarded an Iranian-flagged commercial oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman this week after the vessel was suspected of attempting to violate the American blockade on Iranian shipping.
According to the Los Angeles Times, U.S. Central Command posted on social media identifying the vessel as the M/T Celestial Sea, noting that personnel had inspected the ship and turned it around on suspicion that it was bound for an Iranian port. The boarding marks at least the fifth time a commercial vessel has been seized since the Trump administration imposed the blockade in mid-April.
President Donald Trump said earlier this week that he had called off renewed military strikes on Iran to allow negotiations to advance. Gulf allies urged him to hold off for two to three days, telling him they believed a deal was within reach, prompting him to delay what he described as a planned "a very major attack," according to the Los Angeles Times. Tehran has watched the president announce one deadline after another, each of which he has ultimately abandoned.
Washington launched the blockade a few days after a ceasefire took hold in mid-April, aiming to force Iran's hand on reopening the Strait of Hormuz and coming to terms on ending the war, according to The Associated Press. Prior to that, Tehran had operated a selective passage system, letting vessels it deemed sympathetic through the strait for steep fees — an arrangement critics said amounted to ransoming the world economy.
