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Video: U.S. Disables Iran-Linked Tanker With Hellfire Missiles

CENTCOM strike
Courtesy Central Command

Published Jul 15, 2026 6:23 PM by The Maritime Executive

For the first time since the reimposition of the naval blockade on Iran's seaports, the U.S. military has conducted an enforcement action by disabling an Iran-linked oil tanker, U.S. Central Command confirmed on Wednesday. 

The blockade went back into effect on July 14 at the direction of President Donald Trump, and is aimed at damaging Iran's economy and coercing its leaders into loosening their grip on commercial traffic in the Strait of Hormuz. On Wednesday, a U.S. military aircraft intercepted the merchant tanker Belma as she approached Kharg Island, the home of Iran's largest oil loading terminals. The vessel - in ballast and presumably approaching Kharg in order to load - ignored multiple warnings, CENTCOM said, so the aircraft disabled it by launching short range Hellfire missiles at the tanker's stack. The operation was successful, the command said, and Belma ceased her transit. 

In the first 24 hours of dsthe campaign, CENTCOM assets also directed two other noncompliant vessels away from the blockade area without the use of force. 

Belma (IMO 9289491) is a 160,000 dwt crude oil tanker built in 2005. According to her Equasis record, she is false-flagged, and her operator is based in a free zone in the UAE - both common arrangements for a "shadow fleet" tanker. She does not appear on formal U.S. sanctions blacklists, but she is on the much longer list of Iran-linked shadow fleet tankers tracked by United for a Nuclear Iran.