---
title: "US jet disables a cargo ship leaving an Iranian port"
url: "https://etf.net/news/us-jet-disables-a-cargo-ship-leaving-an-iranian-port-2026-10-11"
published_at: "2026-10-11T06:05:52.559Z"
updated_at: "2026-10-11T06:05:52.559Z"
byline: "ETF.net Research"
---

# US jet disables a cargo ship leaving an Iranian port

The Saturday, October 10, 2026 strike came two days after President Donald Trump said the United States would not attack Iran before the November 3 elections.

By ETF.net Research. Published Oct 11, 2026.

US Central Command said on Saturday that a fighter jet disabled a cargo ship flying Panama's flag in the Gulf of Oman, the open water east of the Strait of Hormuz. The ship had left an Iranian port, and the command said the crew ignored repeated warnings to stop.

The United States and Israel have been at war with Iran since February 28.

The command said the jet struck the stern of the Ocean Molica, which it also called the Arika Sun, with a precision munition, "fully disabling the ship's propulsion without harming the crew."

Reuters said it could not reach the ship's operator for comment.

On Thursday, two days before the strike, President Donald Trump wrote that the United States was having "productive discussions" with Iran, that the blockade would remain in force, and that "we will not be attacking Iran at any time prior to" the midterm elections on November 3.

## The blockade since July

Central Command said it resumed the blockade of ships entering or leaving Iranian ports on Tuesday, July 14. The command had lifted an earlier blockade on Thursday, June 18.

Four commercial vessels have been disabled since the July resumption, the command said on Saturday, and 135 ships have been turned around. On Monday, October 5, the command said three ships had been disabled for refusing to comply. The Ocean Molica is the fourth.

The command said US forces have also destroyed 10 tankers linked to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

## A mine claim in the strait

On Saturday, the Revolutionary Guard Corps said an oil supertanker caught fire after striking a naval mine while trying to leave the Strait of Hormuz by a route the corps said it had not authorized. The corps said the ship had switched off its navigation and positioning systems.

Iranian state media carried that account. The corps did not name the tanker or its flag.

The strait is the narrow exit from the Persian Gulf. Before the war, cargoes through it accounted for about a fifth of the world's crude oil and liquefied natural gas.

On Tuesday, October 6, Kpler, which tracks ship movements, counted seven commodity ships through the strait, the fewest since Thursday, July 23. The count leaves out ships that had switched off their tracking beacons.

In a note dated October 6, Kpler analysts said crude crossings for the week had fallen 27% from the prior week's wartime high, to at least 10.1 million barrels a day. That was 74% of the pre-war level.

## Friday's settlements

Brent crude futures, the international benchmark, settled Friday at $104.72 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate crude futures, the US benchmark, settled at $91.85. Oil futures were shut for the weekend, so those are the last prices, from before the strike.

Source: etf.net, https://etf.net/news/us-jet-disables-a-cargo-ship-leaving-an-iranian-port-2026-10-11. Please cite the page URL.