American warplanes hit a pair of empty Iranian oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday and disabled a third vessel, the latest show of force in a weeks-old naval blockade that U.S. Central Command says has now bottled up more than 70 ships capable of carrying an estimated $13 billion in Iranian crude.
A U.S. Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet struck the M/T Sea Star III and the M/T Sevda with precision munitions fired into their smokestacks, CENTCOM said. A third unladen tanker had its rudder knocked out by rounds from a 20mm cannon. All three ships had been trying to barrel through the American cordon and reach an Iranian port in the Gulf of Oman, the New York Post reported.
The strikes came as smoke still hung over the waterway from Thursday evening's retaliatory exchange, when Tehran targeted three U.S. warships in the strait. President Trump downplayed those earlier American strikes as "love taps." Friday's action carried a sharper edge.
CENTCOM revealed in a post to X on Friday that the blockade, in effect since April 13, had grown into a massive chokepoint. The command stated that the stalled commercial vessels have the capacity to transport more than 166 million barrels of Iranian oil worth an estimated $13 billion-plus. Roughly 15,000 American troops are enforcing the embargo.
Adm. Brad Cooper, the CENTCOM commander, left no ambiguity about U.S. intentions:
"US forces in the Middle East remain committed to full enforcement of the blockade of vessels entering or leaving Iran. Our highly trained men and women in uniform are doing incredible work."
Secretary of State Marco Rubio matched that tone, warning Friday that any ships targeting American vessels will "get blown up."
The Strait of Hormuz carries roughly 20 percent of the world's oil supply, and Iran's effort to choke it off has rattled energy markets for weeks. The Washington Times reported that rising oil and gas prices, combined with pressure from allies and voters, have underscored the economic cost of the confrontation.
The Friday strikes unfolded against a fast-shifting diplomatic backdrop. On Monday, the U.S. launched "Project Freedom", a military escort operation designed to shepherd commercial shipping through the contested waterway. The operation escorted 11 ships through the strait, but it also triggered immediate clashes. The Pentagon said U.S. forces sank six Iranian fast boats during early confrontations tied to the mission.
That same Monday, Iran attacked a Chinese-owned oil products tanker near the strait off the United Arab Emirates coast, a provocation that drew a public response from Beijing days later.
By Tuesday, President Trump called off Project Freedom, citing requests from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and "other countries." He wrote on Truth Social that both sides had agreed to a pause:
"We have mutually agreed that, while the Blockade will remain in full force and effect, Project Freedom (The Movement of Ships through the Strait of Hormuz) will be paused for a short period of time to see whether or not the Agreement can be finalized and signed."
Trump described the diplomatic progress as "great progress." But the blockade itself never wavered, and the cease-fire that accompanied the pause was still technically in effect on Friday, even as American jets put ordnance into tanker smokestacks.
The rapid start-and-stop of Project Freedom left shipping companies uncertain. Newsmax reported that maritime firms said the plan lacked sufficient detail and security assurance. Tom Bartosak-Harlow of the International Chamber of Shipping said there was "much uncertainty around what Project Freedom means in practice" and called for a "coordinated and transparent manner." Around 20,000 mariners on roughly 1,600 vessels were reportedly trapped in the Persian Gulf.
Tehran responded to the tightening vise with its own act of maritime force. The Islamic Republic's army said Friday that Iran had seized the Ocean Koi, a Barbados-flagged tanker carrying Iranian oil in the Gulf of Oman. Tehran's military claimed the ship was stopped and forced back to the southern coast of Iran, accusing unspecified parties of trying to "harm and disrupt oil exports... by exploiting regional conditions."
The seizure is a reminder that Iran has its own capacity to disrupt traffic in the waterway, even as American firepower dominates the surface picture. The broader conflict has already degraded Iran's naval capabilities significantly, but Tehran has shown a willingness to use whatever tools remain.
China's response was notably measured. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian acknowledged the Monday attack on the Chinese-owned tanker but stopped well short of blaming Washington directly. He said China was "deeply concerned that a large number of vessels along with their crew have been caught in the conflict and stranded in the strait."
Lin added that Beijing would "continue working with the international community to promote peace talks and deescalation," and said it was "in the common interest of regional countries and the international community to resume unimpeded passage through the strait as soon as possible and ensure the safety of civilian vessels and crew members."
That language, aimed at everyone and no one, reflects Beijing's awkward position. China is a major buyer of Iranian crude, but it also depends on the strait remaining open for its broader energy imports. Iran's decision to attack a Chinese-owned vessel did not help Tehran's case with its most important remaining economic partner.
The diplomatic maneuvering around the blockade has moved in parallel with other major Trump administration policy shifts. The president recently declared Iran hostilities ended in a War Powers letter as a congressional authorization deadline expired, a move that raised questions about the legal framework for continued military operations in the strait.
What the administration has built in the Strait of Hormuz is, by any measure, an extraordinary projection of American naval power. Fifteen thousand troops. More than 70 tankers held in place. Precision strikes on vessels that test the perimeter. A secretary of state openly promising destruction for anyone who fires on U.S. ships.
The blockade has real teeth, and the $13 billion in stalled Iranian oil exports represents a genuine economic stranglehold on a regime that depends on crude revenue to fund its military and its network of regional proxies.
But the situation also carries real risk. Iran has already targeted American warships. It seized the Ocean Koi in open defiance. And the rapid launch and suspension of Project Freedom, in the span of roughly 24 hours, suggests the diplomatic track remains fragile. Tehran warned of renewed conflict after Trump rejected its latest proposal, and the regime has shown no sign of capitulating.
Ilan Berman, senior vice president of the American Foreign Policy Council, told the Washington Times that "the administration's new initiative is clearly an effort to push the pace on the Hormuz stalemate." Cooper himself framed the stakes plainly: "The United States has assumed the risk for the international community to open the strait."
That is the right framing. The United States is shouldering a burden that benefits every oil-importing nation on earth, while China issues careful press statements and European allies largely watch from the sidelines. The administration's willingness to enforce the blockade with live ordnance, even during a nominal cease-fire pause, sends a message that Tehran and its customers should take seriously.
Meanwhile, the broader trade and foreign policy landscape remains in flux. A federal trade court recently blocked replacement tariffs, adding another variable to an already complex economic picture as the administration manages simultaneous pressure campaigns on multiple fronts.
Several questions hang over the strait. CENTCOM did not report casualties from Friday's strikes, and the Pentagon did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Whether the tanker crews aboard the Sea Star III and the Sevda were injured, or even aboard, remains unclear.
The legal and diplomatic basis for continued strikes during a paused cease-fire has not been publicly explained in detail. And the identities of the specific Pakistani, Saudi, and other officials whose requests led Trump to suspend Project Freedom have not been disclosed.
Most importantly, Iran has not responded to the proposed framework that the pause was supposed to give it time to consider. Every day that passes without an agreement is another day that American sailors stand watch in one of the most volatile waterways on earth.
The blockade works. The question is whether anyone in Tehran is paying attention, or whether it will take more than smoke in the smokestacks to get an answer.