Blockade day one: a tanker disabled
On July 15, the same day the United States reimposed its naval blockade of Iranian ports, US forces opened fire on the Curacao-flagged oil tanker Belma as it sailed toward Kharg Island, Iran’s main oil export terminal, the US military said in Associated Press reporting carried by PBS NewsHour.
After the ship “ignored multiple warnings,” a US aircraft disabled the merchant vessel by firing a missile into its smokestack, the report said. That interdiction marked the first public tanker disablement of the renewed blockade phase and tied the July 13 policy announcement to kinetic enforcement at sea.
Nightly strikes keep going
The blockade restart did not stay a pure maritime action. By late July, AP reported a 13th straight night of US-Iran strikes. US Central Command said the barrage was meant to “further degrade Iran’s ability to threaten civilian mariners and commercial vessels transiting regional waters” as Washington pushed to reopen the strait.
Iranian semi-official outlets Fars and ISNA said the US hit a Revolutionary Guard naval base in northern Iran. Blasts were also reported on Qeshm Island, a base for naval assets including drone boats, and in Isfahan province, home to a major air base and a nuclear site. Additional strikes were reported in Khuzestan and Fars provinces.
Iran hits around the Gulf
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said it targeted the US base at Udairi in Kuwait, claiming three ammunition and storage sheds were set ablaze and destroyed. It also claimed to have struck a watchtower linked to the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet in Bahrain. CENTCOM did not respond to those claims in the AP account. Bahrain and Jordan said they intercepted Iranian aerial attacks.
In Irbil, northern Iraq, security officials said US-led forces shot down five explosive-laden drones near the airport area that hosts American advisers. CENTCOM did not immediately comment on those reports either.
Second tanker under the renewed blockade
On July 24, Capt. Tim Hawkins, a CENTCOM spokesman, told AP that American forces disabled the M/T Lavine in the Gulf of Oman after the ship tried to run the blockade at least four times. The crew was warned and did not comply. US forces then fired into the engine room. Hawkins said it was the second commercial ship disabled since the blockade was reimposed. CENTCOM also said it had redirected 12 vessels.
Talks and force at the same time
President Donald Trump described negotiations with Iran as “by far the most serious that we’ve seen,” even while daily strikes continued. “We’re locked and loaded and ready to go, but we’re talking to them,” he told reporters, adding he was “not in a hurry” to end the war.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran would not bow to US pressure and pointed to discussions with China and Russia. An Omani mediation team was in Tehran the same day to discuss shipping management in the strait, Iran’s state news agency said.
Why this article closes the July hinge
July 7 ship attacks cracked the June MOU’s safe-passage promise. July 13 restored the blockade and the 20 percent “guardian” toll claim. July 15 and the nights that followed turned that policy into a sustained strike-and-interdiction campaign. That is the military middle of the catch-up arc between the June paper pause and August’s diplomacy over corridors and conditions.
Sources
- Associated Press via PBS NewsHour, Julia Frankel, Stella Martany, Konstantin Toropin, July 24, 2026 report covering July 15 Belma disablement and later Lavine case: blockade reimposition day, 13 nights of strikes, Hawkins quotes, redirected vessels, Iranian claims, Trump comments
- Cross-check: July 13 Al Jazeera package on blockade restart and Hormuz guardianship/toll language
