US forces fired a Hellfire missile at the engine room of a Gambia-flagged cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman on May 29, disabling the vessel after it ignored more than 20 warnings while attempting to reach an Iranian port. The ship, identified as the M/V Lian Star, marks at least the sixth vessel neutralized since the US-led maritime blockade of Iranian ports began earlier this year.
The US Treasury has frozen approximately $344 million in digital assets associated with the Iranian regime, making this conflict one of the most significant intersections of military force and digital asset enforcement in recent memory.
The blockade tightens
CENTCOM confirmed the strike as part of ongoing enforcement operations near the Strait of Hormuz, one of the most strategically important chokepoints for global energy shipments. Roughly a fifth of the world’s petroleum passes through that narrow waterway on any given day.
Over 100 ships have been redirected due to the blockade as of late May 2026. Prediction markets have taken notice. The probability of normal ship traffic flowing through the Strait of Hormuz has cratered to just 11% as of May 31. Chances of normalization by July sit at 50.5%.
