US Central Command Strikes Iranian Targets; Oil Exports Stalled Under Naval Blockade
According to The Maritime Executive, US Central Command carried out limited strikes on Iranian targets during Monday night, asserting that the targets posed a threat to American forces. The strikes hit an anti-ship cruise missile site near Bandar Abbas and two small vessels that were preparing to deploy sea mines in the Strait of Hormuz. The IRGC-aligned news agency Tasnim claimed, without providing evidence, that an American MQ-9 drone was shot down off the Iranian coast during the same period. These strikes do not appear to signal a broader resumption of military operations that would undermine the current ceasefire, though the risk of escalation remains high.
US Strikes Target Iranian Military Infrastructure
The limited strikes were reportedly carried out using precision-guided munitions and did not result in significant damage or casualties. The targets hit included an anti-ship cruise missile site near Bandar Abbas, which was allegedly being used to prepare for potential attacks on American forces. Additionally, two small vessels that were preparing to deploy sea mines in the Strait of Hormuz were also struck.
Naval Blockade Continues to Stifle Oil Exports
Negotiations continue with no immediate breakthrough in sight, and the US naval blockade remains firmly enforced. Despite reports of ships moving within Iranian coastal waters or individual vessels possibly escaping, the overall effect is that almost no oil is leaving the Gulf. This situation is most evident at the anchorages around Kharg Island, where the loading quays on both the western and eastern sides have been empty for several weeks.
Oil Exports Remain Stalled
Elsewhere, several media sources have suggested that oil exports have resumed from the Kooh Mobarak Single Point Mooring (SPM) in the Jask area. However, satellite imagery shows that the only SPM known to be deployed off Kooh Mobarak is not being used to load a tanker since the US-sanctioned Iranian-flagged dark fleet VLCC Dore was seen loading there on March 7 and 8. Any tanker that managed to load from the Kooh Mobarak SPM would then have to run the US naval blockade.
The situation remains fluid, with open-source imagery of the Kooh Mobarak area being of relatively low resolution and infrequent. As a result, it is possible that a target may have been missed. Nevertheless, the overall effect of the US naval blockade is clear: oil exports from Iran remain stalled.
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