Having squeezed Iran’s shipping lanes for four months, the Pentagon is now turning its attention to trucks, border posts and the Caspian Sea. On Saturday, Adm. Brad Cooper, who leads U.S. Central Command, ordered the creation of what the military calls Task Force Iron Gate.
Despite the dramatic name, it is a small planning cell rather than a field force: roughly 20 uniformed and civilian staff working out of Tampa, Florida. Their brief is to work with other federal agencies to stop advanced weaponry, dual-use technology, sanctioned goods and illicit cash from crossing Iran’s land frontiers or moving over the Caspian.
The reasoning is easy to follow. By Cooper’s account, the maritime cordon along Iran’s southern coast has kept upward of $25 billion in Iranian oil sales off world markets in recent months. But cargo that cannot leave by tanker can still travel overland toward Türkiye, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan or Pakistan, or across the inland sea toward Russia. Cooper said the new unit “reinforces the success of our ironclad blockade” and should make it harder for Tehran to rebuild weapons plants and re-arm.
The sea campaign itself showed no sign of easing. Hours later, a U.S. warplane fired on the M/V Huda off Iran’s southeastern coast, crippling the St. Kitts-registered freighter by striking its rear section. CENTCOM said the vessel had called at an Iranian port and repeatedly tried to slip through the cordon; its crew was told beforehand to clear the areas that would be targeted.
According to the command’s own tally, 147 merchant vessels have turned back on request since July, while five that refused have been disabled. The military did not say what the Huda was carrying, whether anyone aboard was hurt, or how Iron Gate intends to act on the ground.
