ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The United States military on Tuesday said it stopped and boarded a “stateless” vessel headed to Iran, as part of its maritime enforcement campaign against Tehran, as a ceasefire between the two countries is set to expire on Wednesday.
“Overnight, U.S. forces conducted a right-of-visit, maritime interdiction and boarding of the stateless sanctioned M/T Tifani without incident in the INDOPACOM area of responsibility,” the US military said.
The US Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) oversees operations across the Indian and Pacific oceans and surrounding regions, rather than the Persian Gulf or the Strait of Hormuz, which fall under US Central Command (CENTCOM).
The move comes as both sides continue escalatory actions despite a two-week ceasefire between Washington and Tehran that ended nearly six weeks of war triggered by a US and Israeli military campaign against Iran.