CENTCOM Disables Gambia-Flagged Tanker With Hellfire in Hormuz Blockade

US Central Command said Friday that a US aircraft fired a Hellfire missile into the engine room of the M/V Lian Star, a Gambia-flagged merchant vessel, on May 29 after the ship was assessed to be attempting to breach the US maritime blockade of Iranian ports. The vessel, which had departed Karachi, Pakistan, bound for an Iraqi port, is now adrift in the Gulf of Oman, according to Task & Purpose, which first reported the CENTCOM announcement.

CENTCOM said US forces issued more than 20 warnings before firing. “A U.S. aircraft disabled the vessel by firing a Hellfire missile into the ship’s engine room after Lian Star’s crew failed to comply,” the command said in a statement quoted by Task & Purpose. In a separate readout carried by the Middle East Eye live blog, CENTCOM said: “We disabled the ship after it failed to comply by firing a missile at the engine room, which caused it to stop.”

The Lian Star is the fifth vessel disabled and the 116th redirected since the US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz began in early April, according to figures CENTCOM provided to Task & Purpose. CENTCOM has not publicly disclosed the aircraft type or unit that conducted the strike, whether there were casualties aboard the Lian Star, or the current status of its crew.

Inside the Blockade

The Hellfire strike came hours before Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters that the US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz remains in place, as Middle East Monitor reported. The Pentagon chief’s statement closed the gap between the framework negotiations underway in recent days and the operational tempo on the water: even as diplomats work toward a final determination, US forces are still firing on commercial shipping in the region.

The Lian Star incident is the most kinetic blockade enforcement action disclosed publicly since the campaign began. Earlier interdictions have typically ended with vessels turning back after warnings. CENTCOM’s account suggests the Lian Star’s crew either could not or would not comply across the more than 20 warnings issued, leaving US forces to fire at the engine room rather than the bridge or hull — a strike profile consistent with a disabling rather than a sinking.

The disclosure also lands against a backdrop of escalating signals from both sides earlier in the day. The US Navy issued a Hormuz mine advisory on Friday morning that openly contradicted the framework agreement’s terms, hours before the final-determination window was set to close. In Tehran, parliament advanced a bill to codify the country’s Hormuz transit authority, while the IRGC continued to warn vessels operating in the strait.

Tehran’s Position

Iran has not publicly commented on the Lian Star strike as of this writing. Earlier Friday, Tehran reasserted control over the Strait of Hormuz, Al Jazeera reported, as a final deal with Washington remained elusive. Iranian officials have for weeks framed the US blockade as an act of war and warned that any deal must restore Iranian sovereignty over the strait — a position the parliamentary bill is intended to formalize.

The Lian Star’s declared destination — an Iraqi port — adds a wrinkle the framework negotiations have so far avoided. CENTCOM’s assessment that the vessel was attempting to breach the blockade implies the cargo or routing was treated as Iran-bound regardless of the declared destination. A kinetic strike on a vessel cleared for a non-Iranian port marks a new threshold in the enforcement posture CENTCOM has applied so far in the blockade.

Hegseth, speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue earlier in the cycle, said the US considers Iran “more than capable” of retaliating and framed the $1.5 trillion defense budget request in those terms. Whether Tehran chooses to respond militarily to the Lian Star strike — or absorbs it as a cost of keeping the framework process alive — is the central unanswered question heading into the weekend.

What CENTCOM Has Not Said

Several material facts remain undisclosed. CENTCOM has not identified the aircraft or unit that fired the Hellfire. It has not said whether any of the Lian Star’s crew were killed or injured. It has not disclosed the nature of the cargo, the flag-of-convenience arrangements that placed the vessel under Gambian registry, or whether the ship’s operators have been contacted. The command has not said whether the disabled vessel will be boarded, towed, or left adrift.

There is also no public statement from Iran’s government, the IRGC, or the Iranian Navy on the Lian Star. The IRGC has fired on vessels in the strait within the past 48 hours, and Tehran has linked further escalation to the pace of the framework talks.

What to Watch

Three things to watch over the next 24 to 48 hours. First, whether Tehran responds — by statement, by IRGC action in the strait, or by walking back from the framework table. Second, whether CENTCOM releases additional details about the strike: the aircraft platform, the rules of engagement applied, and any casualty count would each narrow the picture. Third, oil markets. Brent and WTI close Friday before the announcement had time to reprice; the Sunday evening Asia open and Monday’s European session will be the first read on how traders weigh a kinetic blockade enforcement against the still-live final-determination framework.

The Lian Star itself, as of CENTCOM’s statement, remains adrift in the Gulf of Oman.