The Department of War revealed that U.S. forces boarded another stateless, sanctions-defying “shadow fleet” tanker on Monday night to enforce the blockade against Iran.
The Department of War (DoW) said the ship, called M/T Tifani, was boarded “without incident” in the Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) area of responsibility.
INDOPACOM covers the Indian and Pacific Oceans, but not the Strait of Hormuz or Persian Gulf, indicating the tanker was intercepted before it could reach those waters.
According to ship tracking data, the Tifani was traveling from Sri Lanka to Indonesia with a cargo of crude oil when it was intercepted.
Although DoW described it as “stateless,” the Associated Press (AP) reported the ship was flagged to Botswana. The DoW announcement did not reveal exactly where the ship was intercepted.
“International waters are not a refuge for sanctioned vessels. The Department of War will continue to deny illicit actors and their vessels freedom of maneuver in the maritime domain,” the Department of War said.
Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Gen. Dan Caine warned last Thursday that U.S. forces would “actively pursue any Iranian-flagged vessel or any vessel attempting to provide material support to Iran,” even beyond CENTCOM’s area of operation.
CENTCOM issued a maritime advisory last week that said “all Iranian vessels, vessels with active OFAC sanctions, and vessels suspected of carrying contraband, are subject to belligerent right to visit and search.”
“These vessels, regardless of location, are subject to visit, board, search, and seizure,” the advisory stated.
M/T Tifani is a crude oil tanker, about 1100 feet long. It was placed under sanctions by the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in July 2025 under Executive Order 13846, which penalized “the sale, supply, or transfer to Iran of ‘significant’ goods or services used in connection with the automotive sector of Iran.”
On Sunday, the U.S. Navy conducted a more aggressive interception of the Iranian-flagged cargo ship M/V Touska. The destroyer USS Spruance blew a hole in the Touska’s engine room after the ship ignored repeated radio warnings for six hours, and the ship was then boarded by the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit. The Touska was the first ship intercepted by force since the blockade of Iran took effect on April 13.
CENTCOM said on Monday that U.S. forces have “directed 27 vessels to turn around or return to an Iranian port” since the blockade began.
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