US Military Seizes Tanker Suspected of Smuggling Iranian Oil
US military forces have seized and boarded a tanker suspected of involvement in smuggling Iranian oil during an operation in the Indian Ocean. US troops boarded the tanker, described as “stateless” or without national status, which had previously been subjected to US sanctions.
The Pentagon, or US Department of Defense, as reported by Anadolu Agency and Associated Press on Friday (24/4/2026), released video footage showing US military personnel on the deck of the oil tanker named Majestic X, which was intercepted in the Indian Ocean.
“Last night, US forces conducted maritime interdiction and a boarding based on right of visit against the sanctioned stateless vessel, M/T Majestic X,” stated the Pentagon via social media platform X on Thursday (23/4).
“We will continue to enforce global maritime law to disrupt illicit networks and interdict vessels that provide material support to Iran, wherever they operate,” the Pentagon emphasised.
The operation, according to the Pentagon, was carried out in the area of responsibility of INDOPACOM, the abbreviation for the US Indo-Pacific Command.
Ship tracking data shows that Majestic X was in the waters of the Indian Ocean, specifically between Sri Lanka and Indonesia. That location is estimated to be the same as the site where the oil tanker Tifani was previously seized by US forces. That vessel was en route to Zhoushan, China.
The Pentagon stressed that international waters will not serve as a “shield” for sanctioned actors.
Iran has yet to provide any comment on this incident.
The seizure of the Majestic X tanker took place one day after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) attacked three cargo ships in the Strait of Hormuz and seized two of them.
The Tanker Trackers ship tracking platform reported that the tanker, previously known as Phonix, has facilitated the export of 20 million barrels of Iranian oil since 2023. The vessel was sanctioned by the US Department of the Treasury in 2024 for smuggling Iranian crude oil.
Although the tanker flies the flag of Guyana, according to Tanker Trackers, this was done without the permission of that country.