U.S. Seizes Three Iranian Tankers in Asia as IRGC Captures Two Ships in Hormuz

Washington widens its naval blockade into the Indian Ocean while Tehran makes its first cargo-ship seizures of the war, and the Senate rejects a war-powers check 55-46

The U.S. military intercepted at least three Iranian-flagged oil tankers in Asian waters on Wednesday, redirecting vessels near India, Malaysia and Sri Lanka, Reuters reported, one day after Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps captured two foreign container ships exiting the Strait of Hormuz and fired on a third. The twin escalations, on day 55 of the U.S.-Iran war, extended the naval confrontation far beyond the Gulf and marked the first time Iran has seized cargo ships since fighting began on Feb. 28.

The encounters push both capitals past the limits of the indefinite ceasefire President Trump extended on Tuesday. Iran has refused to return to talks until the U.S. lifts the naval blockade imposed April 13, and the U.S. Senate on Wednesday defeated a war-powers resolution 55-46, the fifth such measure to fail. Oil climbed above $100 a barrel as roughly one-fifth of the world's crude and liquefied natural gas stopped moving through the 21-nautical-mile chokepoint between Iran and Oman.

Ships named

Iran's IRGC captured the Panama-flagged MSC Francesca, bound for the Sri Lankan port of Hambantota, about eight nautical miles west of Iran, according to Reuters and the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations. The Greek-owned, Liberia-flagged Epaminondas, headed to Gujarat, India, was taken roughly 20 nautical miles northwest of Oman. The Liberia-flagged Euphoria was fired on in the same area, suffered no damage and later reached Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates. Iran's IRGC said the vessels had violated its restrictions by entering the waterway without coordination.

The U.S. operation on Monday captured the Iranian-flagged container ship Touska en route to Bandar Abbas. The Pentagon said in a social-media post that Washington would "pursue global maritime enforcement efforts to disrupt illicit networks and interdict sanctioned vessels providing material support to Iran — anywhere they operate." The statement added: "International waters are not a refuge for sanctioned vessels."

Blockade math

U.S. Central Command said it has directed 31 vessels, mostly oil tankers, to turn around or return to Iranian ports since the blockade began at 14:00 GMT on April 13. The operation involves at least 10,000 soldiers, 17 warships and more than 100 aircraft. Iran has continued to move crude despite the cordon: the trade-intelligence firm Kpler tracked exports of 1.84 million barrels a day in March and 1.71 million barrels a day so far in April, above the 2025 average of 1.68 million. Iranian crude has not traded below $90 a barrel for a month and has frequently topped $100.

Supply shock

Karen Young, senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, told PBS NewsHour the closure is "the largest supply shock to energy markets that we have ever experienced," exceeding the 1973 embargo and the 1990 Gulf War. Roughly 600 million barrels have failed to reach destinations since late February. Asian importers without strategic stockpiles have rationed fuel, and airlines serving Europe have begun canceling summer flights over jet-fuel shortages, PBS reported.

Restarting the strait will take months, not days. Kuwait's Petroleum Corporation estimates three to four months to restart wells alone, after ships re-enter the Gulf, loading terminals in Kuwait and Iraq resume work and stored oil is redistributed, according to PBS.

Tehran's terms

Iran's parliament speaker and lead ceasefire negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said reopening the Strait of Hormuz was impossible while the U.S. blockade remained, which he called a "flagrant breach of the ceasefire." First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref wrote on X that the "security of the Strait of Hormuz is not free," adding: "One cannot restrict Iran's oil exports while expecting free security for others." Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told state television on March 26: "The Strait of Hormuz, from our perspective, is not completely closed. It is closed only to enemies."

Washington's posture

The White House declined to set a deadline for an Iranian proposal. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said: "The president has not set a firm deadline to receive an Iranian proposal," adding that "the timeline will be dictated by the commander-in-chief." Trump told Fox News on Wednesday there was "no time pressure" on talks. On the Pentagon's civilian side, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday fired Navy Secretary John Phelan, the 34th senior official removed since January. Undersecretary Hung Cao will serve as acting secretary.

A brinkmanship read

Ali Vaez, Iran project director at the International Crisis Group, told Al Jazeera the sea clashes are not isolated. "What we are seeing in the Strait of Hormuz is not strategic mastery but mutual brinkmanship, with each side testing the limits of coercion," he said. "The danger is that neither believes it can afford to blink, and that makes every incident at sea a potential trigger for wider escalation." Chris Featherstone, a political scientist at the University of York, said the campaign has cost Washington standing: "Historically, the US has been perceived to be more of a legitimate actor, and yet in this war with Iran, the Trump administration has lost a large amount of this perceived legitimacy."

Neither side has published a next meeting date. With the Senate check defeated and both navies operating outside the Gulf, the April 13 blockade and the April 22 seizures have become the facts on the water that any resumed talks will have to address.