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

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 ImagesU.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.