Iran says oil tanker passes through Strait of Hormuz amid US blockade of Iranian ports

Iranian state media said Wednesday morning that a cargo ship carrying food and an Iranian crude oil tanker entered Iranian waters after passing through the Strait of Hormuz, hours after the US military commander said. prohibition Iranian ports are “fully utilized.”

Iran’s Fars News Agency said a large ship capable of transporting 2 million barrels of oil sailed through international waters and the Strait of Hormuz with its tracking system activated, “without hiding.”

Data from the ship-tracking website MarineTraffic.com shows several ships, including the crude oil tanker Alicia, making overnight trips. The Chinese-owned Alicia has previously visited Iranian ports and was convicted under a previous name for handling Iranian crude oil.

The Alicia was heading towards the Persian Gulf and reached the coast of Oman on Saturday, the day before the blockade. It appeared to be changing course in the Gulf of Oman when the blockade began, but then continued through the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday night, along with at least two other oil tankers.

Two Iranian-flagged ships, both under US sanctions, were also seen leaving the Persian Gulf on Tuesday and continued to sail near Iran’s southern coast on Wednesday.

The US embargo, which went into effect on Monday, “is enforced indiscriminately against ships of all nations entering or leaving Iranian ports and coastal areas, including all Iranian ports in the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman,” CENTCOM said on Sunday.

The US military “will not impede the freedom of navigation of ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz to and from non-Iranian ports,” the military said.

On Wednesday, a US official told CBS News that the blockade does not apply to sanctioned ships unless they are entering or leaving Iranian ports. It is being enforced from the Gulf of Oman, which means some ships from Iranian ports can pass through the Strait of Hormuz, but the US military intends to prevent it from going further than that, the official said.

It was not clear from MarineTraffic data whether the Alicia or other sanctioned ships had stopped in Iranian ports since the US blockade began. At least two ships have turned off their transponders in recent days near Iranian coastal waters, making them invisible to open tracking services such as MarineTraffic.

CBS News analysis of ship tracking data from earlier this week appeared to show dozens of other ships linked to Iran passing through the Strait of Hormuz in the hours after the blockade began on Monday.

Another ship that crossed the strait after the beginning of the blockade on Monday – the Christianna – had been stopped in the Iranian port of Bandar Imam Khomeini, at the northern end of the Persian Gulf, tracking data show.

The Murlikishan, which is under US sanctions over its ties to Iran, moved west by road overnight Monday, tracking data showed, along with another tanker, the Peace Gulf, which is not sanctioned by the US but called at a port in Iran in December 2025.

The Rich Starry, a tanker authorized under a different name by the US, also sailed overnight on Monday, while the Elpis, another sanctioned vessel, passed through the road after the start of the blockade, apparently from the Iranian port of Bushehr, according to tracking data.

Later on Monday, ship tracking data showed the Rich Starry turning around, heading back to the Strait of Hormuz and turning off its transponder as it approached Qeshm Island. On Tuesday, Elpis stopped broadcasting its location near where the Rich Starry turns.

CBS News cannot confirm that ships have not been broadcasting false location reports — a practice called spoofing — to hide their true whereabouts. It is also possible for a ship to advertise that it is going to one destination but actually go to another port.

CBS News also cannot confirm the exact location of the blockade.

Three more tankers, all authorized, appeared on Wednesday morning to travel on the road leading to the Persian Gulf.

“The blockade of Iranian ports has been fully implemented as US forces maintain sea superiority in the Middle East,” said Adm. Brad Cooper, CENTCOM Commander in a statement shared online late Tuesday. “Approximately 90% of Iran’s economy is fueled by international trade by sea. In less than 36 hours since the blockade, the US military has completely stopped economic trade in and out of Iran by sea.”