US extends Iran blockade to land routes; aircraft disables cargo ship
Central Command announced Task Force Iron Gate on Saturday “to prevent Iran from using ground routes to transport advanced weapons and other materials”, extending the months-long naval blockade to Iran’s land borders and the Caspian Sea. Hours later a US aircraft fired “precision munitions at the stern” of the St Kitts-flagged M/V Huda in the Gulf of Oman after it tried repeatedly to run the blockade. Iranian state media reported explosions on Qeshm island and at Jask, Sirik and Bandar Abbas overnight.
Admiral Brad Cooper said the Tampa-based task force would reinforce “the success of our ironclad blockade against Iran at sea”; CENTCOM says enforcement since July has redirected 147 compliant vessels and disabled five that refused. The Huda is the first confirmed strike on a merchant ship in nearly a month. UKMTO counted at least 11 ships attacked in and around Hormuz in the week to 6 November, three of them sunk, with transits roughly 65% below pre-conflict levels; Iran’s IRGC Navy said two tankers hit mines on Saturday and the UAE rescued 22 crew from a burning cargo vessel. Qatar’s two-day “bridge deal” — blockade lifted and funds released in exchange for IAEA access and a reopened strait — remains on the table but unaccepted.