American special forces carried out a raid last month on a cargo ship traveling from China to Iran in the Indian Ocean, seizing military-related materials, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The incident marks a rare and increasingly assertive maritime action under the administration of US President Donald Trump.
According to the report, the seized cargo included components considered potentially useful for Iran’s conventional weapons program. US officials said the shipment was destroyed following the operation.
The boarding took place several hundred miles off the coast of Sri Lanka and involved US special operations forces.
Officials noted that the seized items were dual-use materials, meaning they could have both civilian and military applications.
Unnamed officials told the newspaper that this was the first known interception in several years of cargo traveling from China to Iran.
After the interdiction, the vessel was allowed to continue its journey.
The operation occurred in November, weeks before US forces seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela earlier this week for alleged sanctions violations—another enforcement action Washington had not undertaken in years.
US Indo-Pacific Command did not immediately confirm the report.
Iran and China also did not respond, though Beijing has consistently criticized US sanctions on Tehran as illegal. China is one of Iran’s key trading partners.
Earlier, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun condemned the US seizure of the Venezuelan oil tanker, which was taken to a port in Texas on Friday.
He reiterated China’s opposition to what it calls unilateral and unlawful sanctions lacking authorization from the UN Security Council.
White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said the Trump administration has not ruled out further vessel seizures near Venezuela, amid broader US pressure on the government of President Nicolas Maduro.
Meanwhile, Iranian media reported that Iran has seized an oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman.
The Fars news agency said the vessel was carrying six million liters of smuggled diesel fuel and had 18 crew members on board from India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh.
“The vessel had disabled all its navigation systems.”
Iranian forces regularly announce the interception of ships it says are illegally transporting fuel in the Gulf.
Retail fuel prices in Iran are among the lowest in the world, making smuggling it to other countries particularly profitable.
Iran seized an oil tanker in Gulf waters last month “for carrying an unauthorised cargo”, dismissing suggestions it was a retaliatory measure against another country.
The latest interception came two days after the United States seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela.
According to Washington, the ship’s captain was transporting oil from Venezuela and Iran.
The US Treasury sanctioned Venezuela in 2022 for alleged ties to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Hezbollah.–Agencies
