CENTCOM: US has diverted 122 merchant ships to enforce the blockade against Iran

The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) announced on Friday that it has diverted 122 merchant ships to “ensure strict compliance” with the American blockade against Iran — the first official figure for the scale of the US naval operation in seven months of war.

According to CENTCOM, US Marines assigned to the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit are aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer, which “continues to support the enforcement of the American blockade against Iran,” the command said in a post on X.

The naval blockade of Iranian ports is one of the central points of the war: Tehran demands its lifting as a condition for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, while Washington uses it as a pressure lever — and now, as CENTCOM’s figures show, on a growing operational scale.

The development comes a day after Iran proposed reopening Hormuz within seven days in exchange for lifting the blockade, releasing frozen funds and lifting oil sanctions — a proposal to which Tehran added on Friday its stance that it will not make concessions on the nuclear program, as reported by Al Jazeera’s “Iran war live” blog, which cited CENTCOM’s announcement on X.