Middle East — 2026-06-08

US Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet Strikes and Disables Oil Tanker in Gulf of Oman During Iran Blockade Enforcement

BLUFSustained kinetic enforcement without Iranian retaliation signals Tehran is absorbing blockade costs to preserve the nuclear negotiating track, not preparing an escalatory response.

US Central Command announced on June 8 that an F/A-18 Super Hornet from USS Abraham Lincoln fired a precision munition into the engineering and steering spaces of the Palau-flagged M/T Marivex after the crew failed to comply with directions from US forces 12. The unladen tanker was transiting international waters in the Gulf of Oman toward an Iranian port in violation of the ongoing blockade 13. CENTCOM stated the Marivex is the seventh non-compliant vessel disabled since the blockade began on April 13; US forces have additionally redirected 134 compliant ships and allowed 42 humanitarian vessels to pass 134.

Analysis
The seventh disabling in 56 days cements a kinetic enforcement pattern commercial operators cannot treat as bluster. That the Marivex was unladen and inbound toward Iran shows operators still willing to position for Iranian crude loading, meaning enforcement demand will not ease absent a negotiated off-ramp. Iran has absorbed all seven incidents without retaliating against US naval forces, consistent with preserving the nuclear negotiating track. The entire operational account rests on a single CENTCOM release with no independent corroboration. The disabled-vessel count may be less a measure of blockade effectiveness than a calibrated diplomatic signal by both parties to the negotiating table.

4 sources

U.S. Forces Disable Non-Compliant Oil Tanker in Gulf of Oman - U.S. Central Command
US Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet strikes, disables oil tanker in Gulf of Oman - Defense News
US military disables oil tanker headed to Iranian port in the Gulf of Oman - Stars and Stripes
U.S. forces disable a blockade-evading ship in Gulf of Oman - Washington Times