The guided-missile destroyer USS Rafael Peralta (DDG 115) intercepted and blocked an Iranian-flagged vessel on April 24, 2026, as the ship attempted to reach a port inside Iran. CENTCOM confirmed the operation in a post on X, stating the destroyer had enforced the U.S. blockade against the Iranian-flagged vessel trying to reach an Iranian port. The operation was the latest in an unbroken series of blockade enforcement actions conducted by the Arleigh Burke-class warship across the Gulf of Oman and Arabian Sea.

According to Kurdistan24, citing CENTCOM data, U.S. forces have by this point rerouted 34 ships as part of the broader blockade enforcement effort. CENTCOM also posted imagery of the April 17 operation in which Rafael Peralta directed a merchant vessel to return to an Iranian port, and stated at that stage that 19 ships had complied with U.S. direction and that zero vessels had evaded U.S. forces since the blockade commenced. The April 24 figure of 34 ships is sourced to a single outlet and has not been independently verified by Strategy Battles. The underlying trend of full enforcement compliance, however, is corroborated across multiple sources.

Rafael Peralta is an Arleigh Burke-class Flight IIA destroyer valued at 79.6 million, capable of integrated air and missile defence, undersea warfare, surface warfare, and strike operations. It has been deployed continuously as a blockade enforcement asset in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations throughout Operation Epic Fury. DVIDS imagery confirms the ship patrolling the Arabian Sea on April 15 and April 21 in explicit blockade enforcement posture.

Three days earlier, on April 22, the IRGC Navy conducted its own seizure operations inside the Strait of Hormuz, boarding and capturing two commercial vessels in an action that maritime security analysts characterised as direct retaliation for the U.S. blockade. The MV Epaminondas (IMO 9153862), a 6,673-TEU container ship flying the Liberian flag and managed by Maersk, was the first vessel targeted. According to maritime security firm Diaplous, an IRGC patrol boat approached the Epaminondas without prior VHF communication and opened fire, causing significant damage to the vessel’s bridge. All crew members were reported safe.

The Epaminondas was Greek-owned (managed by TECHNOMAR SHIPPING INC) and had departed Jebel Ali in the UAE bound for Mundra, India. There were no Greek nationals aboard. The 21-person crew consisted of Ukrainian and Chinese nationals. Greek Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis confirmed the incident publicly in an interview with CNN, stating the ship had been struck but at the time of his statement had not been fully captured. That would change within hours.

The second vessel seized was the MSC Francesca (IMO 9401116), a Panama-flagged container ship operated by MSC Mediterranean Shipping Co., the Swiss-Italian global shipping giant headquartered in Geneva. The IRGC claimed the Francesca had ties to Israel, a characterisation rooted in MSC’s management of container terminals at the Israeli ports of Ashdod and Haifa. Misbar OSINT analysis confirmed via satellite imagery that both vessels were stopped approximately 80 kilometres from where U.S. blockade operations begin, in the area off Sirik near the Iranian coast.

A third vessel, the MV Euphoria, was intercepted during the same operation but subsequently released. IRGC footage showed Iranian naval personnel boarding and taking physical control of the seized ships. Both the Epaminondas and MSC Francesca were escorted toward Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz, an Iranian-controlled island used previously as a holding point for seized vessels. The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) confirmed it had received a notification about an incident involving a container ship whose captain reported being approached by an IRGC gunboat that opened fire without issuing any radio challenge.

These maritime clashes are unfolding inside a nominally active ceasefire. On April 21, President Trump extended the ceasefire that had begun on April 8, describing it as Iran’s final opportunity to respond to U.S. demands. The stated reason for the extension was that the Iranian government was “seriously fractured” and had not yet produced a unified negotiating position. The ceasefire has been renewed without any lifting of the naval blockade, which Washington maintains will remain in force until a final agreement is signed.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry has characterised the blockade as an active act of aggression that gives Tehran the legal right to intercept third-party shipping in the Strait. Tehran accuses Washington of violating the ceasefire through the continued blockade operation. The U.S. position is that the blockade and the ceasefire are separate instruments. A second round of direct talks in Islamabad, initially anticipated following the April 12 collapse, had been planned but was derailed by escalating field conditions of exactly this kind.

On April 25, a Reuters report cited by Kurdistan24 stated that President Trump said Iran was preparing an offer designed to meet U.S. demands. Separately, the White House confirmed that Iran had reached out for direct talks. These signals suggest back-channel communication is continuing even as frontline maritime incidents multiply. No date for a new round of talks has been officially confirmed.

CENTCOM has confirmed for the first time since 2003 that three major aircraft carriers are simultaneously operating in the Middle East theatre. The USS Abraham Lincoln, USS Gerald R. Ford, and USS George H.W. Bush are all deployed, supported by more than 200 aircraft and over 15,000 personnel. CENTCOM described this as peak operational readiness. The George H.W. Bush is operating in the Indian Ocean, while the Abraham Lincoln has been conducting blockade enforcement sorties from the Arabian Sea with its embarked carrier air wing including F-35C stealth fighters.

This is the backdrop against which Rafael Peralta is operating. The destroyer functions as a forward enforcement asset, making direct physical contact with vessels and directing them away from Iranian ports. Its intercept of the Iranian-flagged ship on April 24 was the most recent publicly documented enforcement action in what CENTCOM has presented as an operation with zero evasions since inception. That record, if accurate, reflects a blockade that has achieved near-total control of surface traffic into and out of Iranian ports in the Gulf of Oman.