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The Gambia-flagged cargo ship Lian Star was disabled in the Gulf of Oman after ignoring more than 20 warnings from American forces overnight, as Washington's naval blockade of Iranian ports enters its seventh week and ceasefire talks hang in the balance
The Gambia-flagged cargo ship Lian Star was disabled in the Gulf of Oman after ignoring more than 20 warnings from American forces overnight, as Washington's naval blockade of Iranian ports enters its seventh week and ceasefire talks hang in the balance(REUTERS)The US military disabled a merchant vessel attempting to run its blockade of Iranian ports by firing a missile into its engine room, Central Command announced on Saturday, marking the sixth time American forces have intercepted a ship seeking to breach the cordon since it was established in April.
Cargo Ship Lian Star Disabled After Ignoring More Than 20 US Warnings
The Lian Star, a Gambia-flagged cargo vessel, was struck overnight after it repeatedly disregarded attempts by US forces to turn it back as it sought to reach an Iranian port. The ship received more than 20 separate warnings before the missile strike was authorised, the US military said.
The vessel remained adrift in the Gulf of Oman on Saturday. US forces had not boarded the ship, according to a US official with knowledge of the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations.
US Has Now Halted Six Ships and Redirected 116 Vessels Since Blockade Began
The Lian Star incident brings to six the total number of vessels the US military has stopped attempting to breach the blockade since it came into force. One ship was allowed to continue its passage. A further 116 vessels have been redirected away from Iranian ports, the military said.
The blockade was launched on 17 April as a direct response to Iran's effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which followed the outbreak of war in the Middle East after US and Israeli strikes on 28 February. A fragile ceasefire has held since 7 April. The region is now waiting to learn whether a deal can be reached to extend it by 60 days, during which time negotiations on Iran's disputed nuclear programme would be held.
Strait of Hormuz Standoff Keeps Pressure on the Global Economy
The prolonged blockade at the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway separating Iran and Oman through which significant volumes of the world's oil, natural gas and fertiliser once flowed freely, continues to reverberate through global markets. Shipments of those commodities remain largely stranded, deepening the strain on consumers and food producers around the world.
The US blockade is designed to curtail Iran's own shipments through the waterway and restrict its access to foreign revenue, adding fresh economic pressure to an Iranian economy already substantially weakened by years of international sanctions.
Trump Has Yet to Decide on 60-Day Ceasefire Extension as Iran Says No Deal Is Finalised
US President Donald Trump met with advisers on Friday to weigh whether to proceed with a deal that would extend the ceasefire by 60 days and reopen the strait to normal commercial passage. No decision had been announced by Saturday. Iran said the deal had not been finalised.
Commercial traffic has continued to move through the strait in limited volumes despite Iran's insistence that it must approve any vessel transits, though those flows remain well below the levels recorded before the war began.
Iran Threatens Any Vessels That Challenge Its Authority Over the Strait
Tehran has made clear it does not intend to relinquish its claimed authority over the waterway without resistance. Iran's joint military command issued a pointed warning on Saturday in a statement carried by state television, directed at any vessel seeking to transit without its approval.
"Any violation of these regulations will place the security of their passage at serious risk," the command said, adding that military vessels attempting to interfere would be targeted.
Iran has also sought to assert financial control over the strait by levying transit tolls of as much as $2 million per vessel. International maritime law experts have described the practice as a violation of the longstanding principle of freedom of peaceful navigation.
Qatar Opens Door to Talks Over Strait Transit Fees Under Specific Conditions
One of Iran's Gulf neighbours signalled limited flexibility over the toll question even as it formally registered its opposition. Qatar's deputy prime minister, Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman bin Hassan bin Ali Al Thani, indicated on Saturday that the fees could become a subject of negotiation under particular circumstances.
"But for certain times when they say they are going to use it for mine clearing or some usage of the fees for a temporary time, this is something that is negotiable, and it could be something that will help the transit of the Strait of Hormuz to be back to normal stage," he said.
US Forces Have Not Found or Destroyed Any Mines in the Strait
The reference to mine clearing carries particular significance given that a US official previously told the Associated Press that US forces have not found or destroyed any mines in the strait, raising questions about the stated basis for Iran's toll regime and the broader conditions it has sought to impose on passage through the waterway.
(With agency inputs)
About the Author
Sayantani Biswas
Sayantani Biswas is an assistant editor at Livemint with seven years of experience covering geopolitics, foreign policy, international relations and global power dynamics. She reports on Indian and international politics, including elections worldwide, and specialises in historically grounded analysis of contemporary conflicts and state decisions. She joined Mint in 2021, after covering politics at publications including The Telegraph. <br> She holds an MPhil in Comparative Literature from Jadavpur University (2019), with a specialisation in postcolonial Latin American literature. Her research examined economic nationalism through Eduardo Galeano’s Open Veins of Latin America. She also writes on political language, cultural memory and the long shadows of conflict. <br> Biswas grew up in Durgapur, an industrial town in West Bengal shaped by migration, which drew families from across India to the Durgapur Steel Plant. As the only child in a joint family, she spent years listening—almost obsessively—to her grandparents’ testimonies of struggle, fear and loss as they fled Bangladesh during the Partition of 1947. This formative exposure to lived historical memory later converged with her training in Comparative Literature, equipping her to analyse socio-economic structures and their reverberations. <br> Outside the newsroom, she gravitates towards cultural history and critical theory, returning often to texts such as Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed. As a journalist, she is committed to accuracy, intellectual rigour and fairness, and believes political reporting demands not only clarity and speed, but historical depth, contextual precision, and a disciplined resistance to spectacle.
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