[The Public — Reporter Yang Won‑mo] The United States says it will not stop at a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. Washington plans to track ships worldwide that trade with or supply Iran, expanding operations beyond the Middle East into the Indo‑Pacific in an effort to increase pressure on Tehran.
Gen. Dan Kain, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters at the Pentagon on the 16th that U.S. commanders around the world, including those in the Indo‑Pacific, will actively track Iranian vessels and ships that support Iran. He said naval forces deployed in the Pacific could be used to interdict supply lines headed to Iran.
The U.S. has also publicly raised the prospect of military action. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned that if Iran refuses to negotiate, the U.S. stands ready to resume combat. He cautioned that a wrong choice by Tehran could prompt strikes on infrastructure in addition to the blockade, and asserted that the United States — not Iran — currently controls the Strait of Hormuz. He vowed to maintain the blockade for as long as necessary.
U.S. forces began a maritime blockade focused on the Strait of Hormuz at 10 a.m. Eastern time on the 13th, targeting vessels traveling to and from Iranian ports. Kain said the operation did not involve any boardings, but several ships aborted attempts to enter the strait and turned back. Officials say more than 10 vessels have returned to port.
Traffic has not stopped completely. Bloomberg and other outlets report that some tankers and bulk carriers linked to Iran and China are still transiting the strait. In one instance, an LPG tanker sailed empty and listed Iraq as its destination. Authorities also detected a supertanker subject to U.S. sanctions using the same route.
Analysts say these ships show characteristics of a so‑called shadow fleet: vessels with opaque ownership that use low‑cost, secondhand tankers to trade with sanctioned states such as Russia and Iran. Kain warned that shadow‑fleet vessels are included in U.S. tracking efforts and could be boarded and seized regardless of their location.
