The United States has launched a dedicated task force to disrupt Iranian land-based supply routes, according to reports on Sunday, 8 November, widening the blockade of Iran from the sea to the land as Washington seeks to close off Tehran’s supply lines on every front.
The task force was reported alongside news that US forces had disabled the St Kitts-flagged commercial cargo vessel M/V Huda in the Gulf of Oman after it attempted to break the blockade. Together, the two moves signal a sharp escalation in the enforcement of the blockade that has been in place since the war began in late February 2026.
Details of the task force’s composition, mandate and area of operations have not been published, and the reports rest on a single source. The Pentagon has not released a detailed statement about the new unit, and the exact scope of its operations against land routes into Iran remains to be confirmed.
A blockade under pressure
The move comes as the United States tightens its blockade on Iran and Tehran simultaneously lifts limits on its missile programme. The UK Maritime Trade Operations agency said at least 11 ships had been attacked in and around the Strait of Hormuz over the preceding week, with three sinking, and the International Maritime Organization’s incident register recorded 129 confirmed incidents across the Strait and the wider Middle East as of 5 November.
Iran has said it wants more than “paper commitments” from the US before entering a new phase of talks, and has demanded the lifting of the US blockade and sanctions before it will reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Qatar, which is mediating between the two sides, said on Saturday that negotiations were continuing and rejected suggestions that they had failed.
President Donald Trump confirmed on 6 November that US forces had carried out limited strikes against an Iranian air-defence system on Qeshm Island, and told reporters on Friday that Iran wants “to make a deal very badly”. On Sunday he repeated his assertion that the United States is winning the war with Iran and said of a deal: “It could happen.”
What happens next
The task force’s creation will be watched closely by Iran’s neighbours, whose territory any land interdiction would cross, and by shipping and energy markets already rattled by eight months of war at sea. Brent crude has topped $100 as tanker fires rattled markets, and the Strait of Hormuz normally carries about 20% of the world’s petroleum.
US Central Command also offered up to $20 million late on 6 November for information on Iran’s nuclear programme, and the State Department has issued a security warning covering 10 Middle Eastern countries, citing Houthi threats and Iranian efforts to target US officials.
Related coverage: US Offers $20 Million Reward for Tips on Iran Nuclear Programme | Trump Launches Project Freedom to Escort Ships Through Hormuz
