11
Naval Blockade & Shipping War
16 documented incidents
- Feb 28 IRIS Bayandor and IRIS Naghdi, Konarak naval base: Military Two Bayandor-class corvettes destroyed alongside one another at Konarak naval base in Hormozgan in the opening strikes of the war. [Wikipedia – List of ships attacked during the 2026 Iran war]
- Feb 28 – Mar 1 IRIS Jamaran (Moudge-class frigate), Chabahar: Military Sunk while in port near the IRGC Navy Imam Ali Base at Chabahar by US forces. [Wikipedia – List of ships attacked during the 2026 Iran war]
- Mar 1 IRIS Makran (forward base ship), Bandar Abbas: Military The converted tanker and forward base ship IRIS Makran was destroyed by US forces while in port at Bandar Abbas naval base. [Wikipedia – List of ships attacked during the 2026 Iran war]
- Mar 3–4 IRIS Sabalan, IRIS Zagros and a Kilo-class submarine: Military The Alvand-class frigate Sabalan and Moudge-class frigate Zagros are listed as suspected sunk. A Kilo-class submarine at Bandar Abbas naval harbour is also suspected sunk — satellite imagery shows damage, but confirmation is uncertain. The corvette IRIS Shahid Sayyad Shirazi was attacked on 4 March and damaged but remained afloat. [Wikipedia – List of ships attacked during the 2026 Iran war; The Telegraph]
- Mar 4 IRIS Dena (Moudge-class frigate), Sri Lankan EEZ: Military Torpedoed and sunk by the US submarine USS Charlotte roughly 19 nautical miles south of Galle, inside Sri Lanka's exclusive economic zone — thousands of miles from the war theatre. 104 crew were killed and 32 wounded, making it the deadliest single incident of the war after the opening day. It was the first sinking of a surface ship by a US submarine since the Second World War. A warship is a lawful military target, but the sinking's location within a neutral state's EEZ raises distinct legal questions. [Wikipedia – List of ships attacked during the 2026 Iran war]
- Late Mar Strait of Hormuz closed by Iran: Dual-use (contested) Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz to shipping in late March, choking a waterway carrying roughly a fifth of global seaborne oil. The closure became the central unresolved issue of the war: the 8 April ceasefire required Iran to reopen the strait, and Iran's refusal to do so is what unravelled the agreement. [Wikipedia – 2026 Iran war; Al Jazeera]
- Apr 13 US naval blockade of Iran declared: Dual-use (contested) Announced by President Trump on 12 April after the collapse of the Islamabad Talks and in force from 13 April at 10:00 EDT, covering 'the entirety of the Iranian coastline'. CENTCOM said it applied only to vessels travelling to or from Iranian ports, not to general Strait of Hormuz transit. Enforcement was rapid: 8 tankers intercepted on 14 April, 23 by 18 April, 29 by 22 April, and 94 vessels turned away by 22 May. Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called the blockade 'an act of war' and Iran's military called it 'piracy'; Iran filed a complaint at the UN. China called it 'irresponsible and dangerous', Russia warned of an 'economic earthquake', Spain said it 'makes no sense', and the UK, Australia and the EU declined to support it. Israel backed it. The Pentagon estimated $4.8bn in lost Iranian oil revenue between 13 April and 1 May. [Wikipedia – 2026 United States naval blockade of Iran; Lloyd's List]
- Apr 15 Tanker Belma struck en route to Kharg Island: Dual-use (contested) The tanker Belma was struck by Hellfire missiles on its smokestack while attempting to reach Kharg Island, which handles roughly 90% of Iran's crude exports. [Wikipedia – 2026 United States naval blockade of Iran]
- Apr 19 Iranian container ship Touska seized: Dual-use (contested) The first forcible seizure under the blockade. USS Spruance fired on the Iranian-flagged container ship Touska in the northern Arabian Sea, disabling its engine room; the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit then boarded and seized the vessel. Its 22 crew were repatriated. Iran filed a UN complaint through representative Amir Saeid Iravani arguing the seizure violated the ceasefire. Lloyd's List reported that at least 26 Iranian ships had bypassed the blockade regardless by 20 April. [Wikipedia – 2026 United States naval blockade of Iran; Lloyd's List]
- Apr 20–23 Iranian tankers Dorena, Tifani and Majestic X seized: Dual-use (contested) The Iranian oil tanker Dorena was captured off western India on 20 April. MT Tifani, a VLCC carrying 1.9 million barrels, was boarded in the Indian Ocean on 21 April, and the VLCC Majestic X, also carrying 1.9 million barrels, was seized on 23 April. The tankers Deep Sea and Sevin were captured off Malaysia and Derya off western India in the same period — an enforcement campaign reaching thousands of miles beyond the Gulf. [Wikipedia – 2026 United States naval blockade of Iran]
- May 6–8 Iranian tankers Hasna, Sevda and Sea Star III struck off Bandar-e Jask: Dual-use (contested) US F/A-18s disabled three Iranian oil tankers off Bandar-e Jask over three days: the Hasna was raked with 20mm cannon fire into its rudder on 6 May, and the Sevda and Sea Star III were hit with precision munitions on 8 May, the Sevda still burning the following day. [Wikipedia – List of ships attacked during the 2026 Iran war]
- May 12 IRIS Alborz destroyed in dry dock: Military The Alvand-class frigate IRIS Alborz was destroyed while in dry dock, confirmed by satellite imagery. [Wikipedia – List of ships attacked during the 2026 Iran war]
- May 29 – Jun 10 Tankers Lian Star, Lexie, Marivex, Jalveer and Settebello disabled: Dual-use (contested) A sustained US campaign against tankers carrying Iranian oil in the Gulf of Oman. The Lian Star was disabled by a Hellfire missile to its engine room on 29 May after more than 20 warnings, the Lexie on 2 June, and the Marivex on 8 June — its 24 Indian crew rescued by Oman. On 10 June the Palau-flagged Settebello was attacked, killing 3 Indian sailors; 21 of the 24 crew were rescued. The International Maritime Organization condemned the attack. Several of the vessels sailed under false flags of registry. [Wikipedia – List of ships attacked during the 2026 Iran war; IMO]
- Jun 18 Dual blockade lifted: Dual-use (contested) Following the Islamabad Memorandum — announced 14 June and signed on 17 June by Trump at the Palace of Versailles and President Masoud Pezeshkian in Tehran — CENTCOM removed the naval blockade on 18 June, and Iran's closure of the Strait was lifted in parallel. The 60-day negotiating window it opened was due to expire on 21 August. It lasted 20 days. [Wikipedia – 2026 United States naval blockade of Iran]
- Jul 11 Iran re-closes the Strait of Hormuz: Dual-use (contested) Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz for the second time in the war, three days after the ceasefire collapsed. [Al Jazeera; Wikipedia – 2026 Iran war]
- Jul 14 US naval blockade reinstated: Dual-use (contested) Announced by Trump on 13 July and reimposed at 20:00 GMT on 14 July, 26 days after it was lifted. It remains in force. Iranian Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf claimed Iran "couldn't export a single barrel of oil" under the blockade — a claim contradicted by maritime intelligence, which recorded Iranian exports of 260,000 barrels per day in May. [Wikipedia – 2026 United States naval blockade of Iran]
Summary:The war at sea became its own campaign. Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz in late March, choking a waterway carrying roughly a fifth of global seaborne oil; its refusal to reopen it is what unravelled the April 8 ceasefire. The US declared a naval blockade of 'the entirety of the Iranian coastline' on April 13, turning away 94 vessels by May 22 and seizing Iranian tankers as far away as Malaysia and India. Iran called it 'an act of war' and 'piracy' and complained to the UN; China called it 'irresponsible and dangerous', Russia warned of an 'economic earthquake', and the UK, Australia and the EU declined to support it. The blockade was lifted on June 18 under the Islamabad Memorandum and reimposed on July 14. More than 53 ships were attacked across the war. The deadliest incident was the sinking of the frigate IRIS Dena by the submarine USS Charlotte on March 4 inside Sri Lanka's exclusive economic zone, killing 104 — the first time a US submarine sank a surface ship since the Second World War. [Wikipedia; Lloyd's List; IMO; Pentagon]