US warplane disables cargo ship trying to slip Iran blockade

US forces fired precision munitions at the stern of a commercial ship that refused to respect the American blockade of Iran, US Central Command said Saturday. The St. Kitts-flagged cargo vessel had tried to leave regional waters after calling at an Iranian port. Before the strike, US forces told the crew to clear the targeted spaces on board, then hit the ship to disable it.

The confrontation played out in the Gulf of Oman, where the US has kept a naval blockade on Iran running for months. Central Command estimates that blockade has already stopped Iran from shipping out more than $25 billion worth of crude oil. Saturday's strike marks the first time in this campaign that US aircraft have fired on a vessel trying to break it.

Washington isn't stopping at the water. The US military said it is launching a task force aimed at Tehran's overland smuggling routes and its traffic across the Caspian Sea, targeting advanced weapons and other sanctioned goods. It's a second front against the same flows of materiel the naval blockade was built to stop.

The backdrop is volatile. President Donald Trump has been threatening a fresh offensive against Iran, while Tehran has warned of broad retaliation against Gulf infrastructure, rattling governments across the region. With a cargo ship now disabled and a new task force coming, the pressure campaign looks set to widen rather than wind down.