US forces intercepted an Iran-linked oil tanker that was making its way from the Caribbean Sea to the Indian Ocean, according to a statement issued by the US Department of Defense (DoD) Sunday afternoon.
"Overnight, US forces conducted a right-of-visit, maritime interdiction and boarding of the Veronica III without incident in the INDOPACOM area of responsibility," the DoD said.
"The vessel tried to defy President [Donald] Trump’s quarantine, hoping to slip away," the statement continued, referring to the US quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Indian Ocean.
US troops tracked the oil tanker in violation from the Caribbean Sea to the Indian Ocean before boarding and seizing control.
Video shared by the DoD showed about 20 soldiers approaching the vessel by helicopter before appearing to board it. "No other nation has the reach, endurance, or will to do this," the DoD said.
'International waters are not sanctuary'
The Veronica III is a Panamanian-flagged vessel under US sanctions related to Iran, according to the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control website.
Maritime intelligence firm TankerTrackers.com reported that Veronica III left Venezuela on January 3, 2026, the same day Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro was captured, carrying roughly 1.9 million barrels of crude and fuel oil. The tanker has been linked to shipments of Russian, Iranian, and Venezuelan oil since 2023.
"International waters are not sanctuary. By land, air, or sea, we will find you and deliver justice. The Department of War will deny illicit actors and their proxies freedom of movement in the maritime domain," the DoD statement added.
A similar incident was reported last week, when US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said US troops had boarded a crude oil tanker that was breaching Washington's blockade on sanctioned vessels traveling to or from Venezuela. Similarly, the vessel was boarded in the Indian Ocean after being followed from the Caribbean.
Last week, a Wall Street Journal report suggested that the Trump administration was considering seizing additional Iranian oil tankers in an attempt to put pressure on Tehran by targeting Iran's main source of revenue.