US Military Boards Sanctioned Oil Tanker Linked to Iran, Pentagon Announces

‘International waters are not a refuge for sanctioned vessels,’ the Pentagon said on social media.

A navy vessel sails in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway through which much of the world's oil and gas passes, on March 1, 2026. Sahar Al Attar/AFP via Getty Images

U.S. military forces boarded an oil tanker that was previously sanctioned for smuggling Iranian crude oil in the Indian Ocean, the Pentagon said on April 21.

In a post on X, the Department of War wrote that the military conducted an overnight “right-of-visit, maritime interdiction and boarding” of the sanctioned M/T Tifani tanker ship in the U.S. military’s Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean area of command.