US Military Releases Video of Maritime Blockade Enforcement as Tensions Escalate With Iran

The US military on Monday released a video showing a machine gunner in a helicopter warning a cargo vessel to turn back after it was detected near Iranian ports, as US forces continue enforcing a maritime blockade amid escalating tensions with Iran.

The footage, shared by United States Central Command on X, shows a US serviceman pointing a heavy-calibre machine gun from the helicopter while issuing radio warnings to the vessel, stating that it was entering a restricted military zone and that the blockade applies to all ships regardless of flag.

“This is United States Warship 115. You are entering an area of a military blockade. This blockade of Iranian ports will be enforced and applies to all vessels regardless of flag,” the radio warning in the video stated. “Any vessel with further intent to enter or exit an Iranian port will be subject to the right of visit and search in accordance with international law. If you attempt to run [from] the blockade we will compel compliance with force. Over.”

CENTCOM said US forces had directed 27 vessels to turn around or return to Iranian ports since the start of the blockade of ships entering or exiting Iranian coastal areas.

The military footage comes as maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz has once again been disrupted amid escalating tensions between Washington and Tehran. According to vessel tracking data cited by AFP, shipping in the strategic narrow chokepoint has become increasingly restricted, with both sides enforcing separate blockades that have complicated commercial movement through the Gulf region.

Iran had briefly announced the reopening of the strategic waterway, but the United States did not ease restrictions on vessels bound to or from Iranian ports. Dozens of ships transited the strait during the brief opening before Tehran later warned that any approaching vessel would be treated as a target and reclosed the passage. Since then, only a handful of ships have managed to cross. Marine tracking firm Kpler reported that just four vessels had passed through in either direction since Sunday. Among them was the Iranian-flagged Nova Crest, which is sanctioned by the US and was observed leaving the Gulf and continuing through the Gulf of Oman.

US forces are enforcing a maritime blockade targeting vessels entering or leaving Iranian ports. Several ships have reportedly been ordered to alter course or return, including tankers and container vessels tracked in the region. Iran, meanwhile, has also moved to assert control over the strait, with incidents involving vessels flagged by different countries adding to tensions in the busy shipping lane. Some ships have reported damage or been forced to change course amid the disruptions.

Tracking data also indicated that hundreds of commercial vessels remain active in the Gulf despite the restrictions, underscoring continued but constrained traffic through one of the world’s most critical energy corridors.

United States Central Command (CENTCOM) on Monday also released footage showing a maritime operation in which US Marines boarded the Iranian-flagged container vessel Touska in the Gulf of Oman. The video, shared by CENTCOM on X, shows Marines launching from the USS Tripoli, an amphibious assault ship, and approaching the vessel by helicopter before fast-roping onto its deck to carry out the boarding operation. The footage captures the tactical sequence as personnel descend from the aircraft and secure access to the ship, amid heightened monitoring of commercial shipping lanes in the region.

Iran’s Hazrat Khatam al-Anbiya military headquarters later confirmed the incident, describing it as an attack on an Iranian commercial vessel in the Sea of Oman and Tehran accused the US of “violating the ceasefire and committing maritime piracy” by firing on the ship and “disabling its navigation system by deploying several of its terrorist marines on the deck”, while confirming that the vessel had been seized.

Following the incident, the Iranian military issued a warning of retaliation, saying, “We warn that the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran will soon respond to and retaliate against this armed piracy by the US military,” further escalating tensions between the two countries, which have been in conflict since February 28 and are currently under a fragile ceasefire.