Video: Navy guided-missile destroyers threaten to board Iran-bound ships

U.S. naval vessels are on patrol in the Gulf of Oman as CENTCOM continues to execute a U.S. blockade on ships entering and departing Iranian ports. U.S. forces are present, vigilant, and ready to ensure compliance. pic.twitter.com/dnHR2oz0ZN

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) April 15, 2026

A new video released by Central Command shows two Navy guided-missile destroyers enforcing the blockade against merchant ships using ports in Iran.

The 26-second video shows the USS Michael Murphy from Pearl Harbor and the USS Rafael Peralta from Sasebo, Japan, hailing vessels in the Gulf of Oman and threatening to board them.

“Turn around or prepare to be boarded,” an Navy crew member calls out via radio in the video. “If you do not comply with this blockade, we will use force.”

The Rafael Peralta was commissioned in San Diego and based here before being forward deployed to Japan. The warship’s namesake was an immigrant from Mexico who grew up in San Diego, joined the Marines and was killed during the Second Battle of Fallujah in Iraq.

“U.S. naval vessels are on patrol in the Gulf of Oman as CENTCOM continues to execute a U.S. blockade on ships entering and departing Iranian ports,” according to the video post on X. “U.S. forces are present, vigilant, and ready to ensure compliance.”

Centcom said no vessels have made it past U.S. naval forces during the first 48 hours of the blockade.

Additionally, nine vessels complied with direction from U.S. forces to turn around and return toward an Iranian port or Iran’s coastal area.

The blockade is designed to pressure Iran into negotiating an end to the war. The U.S. estimates that 90% of Iran’s economy is dependent on sea trade.