US Central Command says 35 ships redirected since Iran naval blockade resumed

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Sunday that 35 commercial vessels have had their course redirected, two ships have been disabled and two others have been boarded since the United States resumed its naval blockade of Iranian ports. In a statement on X, CENTCOM said the operations were carried out as of August 2 and that an F-35C fighter jet attached to the U.S. Marine Corps had taken off from the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln to conduct missions in the Arabian Sea as part of the blockade. The United States resumed the naval blockade of Iran on July 14, according to the statement. CENTCOM said the blockade is not the first such operation; a previous blockade was conducted from April 13 to June 18 and lasted roughly two months before being temporarily halted. CENTCOM said the earlier blockade was suspended after peace talks failed and amid disagreements over freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. The statement did not provide further details on the current operations.