U.S. forces boarded a sanctioned, Iran-linked oil tanker in the Indian Ocean overnight, the Pentagon said on April 23, in the latest expansion of Washington’s global maritime enforcement campaign aimed at cutting off Tehran’s oil revenues and supply networks to further degrade Iran’s warfighting capacity.
In a statement posted on X, the Department of War said American forces carried out a “maritime interdiction and right-of-visit boarding” of the stateless vessel M/T Majestic X, which it said was transporting Iranian oil within the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command area of responsibility.
“We will continue global maritime enforcement to disrupt illicit networks and interdict vessels providing material support to Iran, wherever they operate,” the department said. “International waters cannot be used as a shield by sanctioned actors.”…