US Navy Turns Back 27 Ships Near Iran Ports Amid Strait of Hormuz Blockade

The U.S. Navy has turned back 27 ships attempting to enter or leave Iranian ports since an American blockade began about a week ago near the contested Strait of Hormuz, according to a New York Times report citing U.S. Central Command.

A U.S. military official said on Monday that the most recent escalation involved the Iranian cargo ship Touska, which was disabled and seized by the Navy in the Gulf of Oman on Sunday after trying to evade the blockade, according to the report.

It marked the first reported attempt by a vessel to run the U.S.-imposed blockade since it took effect last week.

American officials are still deciding what to do with the disabled ship once a search of its cargo is completed, a U.S. military official told the Times on condition of anonymity, to discuss operations.

One option under consideration is towing the vessel to Oman, while another would allow it to continue on to an Iranian port if it remains seaworthy.

A second U.S. military official said the ship's crew is expected to return to Iran soon, the Times reported.

"The message is out that most ships are not wanting to go out there," retired Vice Adm. Kevin Donegan, a former top Navy commander in the Middle East, said in an interview.

The Touska's captain reportedly ignored multiple radio warnings from U.S. forces ordering it to stop before the Navy intervened.

The guided-missile destroyer USS Spruance, part of a larger force of more than a dozen U.S. warships enforcing the blockade, ordered the crew to evacuate the engine room before firing on the ship's propulsion system, according to a Central Command statement cited in the Times report.

The Navy used its Mk-45 deck gun, which can fire 16 to 20 rounds per minute and launches 5-inch shells weighing about 70 pounds each, containing roughly 10 pounds of TNT equivalent.

Iranian state media said a military spokesman reiterated a threat to "take the necessary action against the U.S. military" in response to the seizure.

Social media accounts in Iran also claimed Tehran had launched retaliatory drone strikes against U.S. Navy ships in the region, but the Pentagon denied that any such attack occurred, the report said.