The US military insisted on Tuesday that "no ships broke through" the US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz in the first 24 hours of the attempt, even though a US-sanctioned Chinese tanker traveled through the shipping corridor to the Gulf of Oman.
US Central Command (Centcom), the military arm that oversees US forces in the Middle East, said six merchant ships "obeyed instructions from US forces to turn back to re-enter an Iranian port in the Gulf of Oman," according to a post on the social platform X, reports Telegraph.
Under President Trump's blockade - which began on Monday and includes more than 10,000 sailors, airmen and dozens of warships - the US military says it is blocking ships entering and leaving Iranian ports and is stopping ships that paid taxes to Tehran.
But the Rich Starry, a medium-range tanker, sailed through the vital waterway on Monday afternoon, crossing it on a second attempt, according to shipping data from Kpler. The ship is carrying about 250,000 barrels of methanol, Reuters reported.
Asked by The Hill about the discrepancy, the Pentagon referred questions to Centcom, which said it had nothing more to offer besides the X-mail at this time.
The US military is trying to block ships as they go in and out of Iranian ports in an effort to put economic pressure on Tehran, which relies heavily on oil shipments to fund the regime.
Washington also hopes that China's reliance on Iran's oil exports could lead them to cooperate with the regime, an ally of theirs, to settle for peace.
Trump ordered the blockade on Sunday in an effort to bring Iran to the negotiating table and end the war that began on February 28, after the US and Israel launched joint attacks on the Islamic Republic.
The move follows a round of face-to-face talks between the Trump administration and Iranian officials in Pakistan on Saturday that ended without an agreement. Washington reportedly wants Tehran to halt its nuclear program for 20 years, a sticking point as the regime wants to halt its nuclear activity for only five years at most.
US officials are said to be now considering possible dates and locations for a second round of negotiations before a two-week ceasefire between the two countries ends next week.
