US Military Creates Task Force to Target Iran's Land Supply Routes

The US Central Command, the American military headquarters responsible for the Middle East, has set up a new unit called Task Force Iron Gate to stop Iran from moving advanced weapons and other materials over land, according to Al Jazeera. The task force was announced on Nov. 7.

The unit is based in Tampa, Florida. It will work with other US government agencies to prevent the movement of advanced weapons systems, dual-use technologies (items with both civilian and military uses), sanctioned goods and illegal revenue across Iran's land borders and the Caspian Sea, an inland body of water that Iran borders.

The commander of Central Command, Admiral Brad Cooper, said the task force will reinforce the US blockade of Iran at sea. A blockade is a military effort to stop ships from reaching or leaving a coast or port. The Pentagon has described Iranian ports as the target of this blockade since July.

Central Command said US forces have redirected 147 commercial vessels that complied with the blockade since July. In the same period, it said, US forces have disabled five merchant ships that refused to comply.

The most recent of those incidents involved the M/V Huda, a ship registered in St. Kitts and Nevis. Central Command said a US military aircraft fired precision munitions, or guided weapons, at the vessel's stern, the rear section, in the Gulf of Oman, and that the ship was disabled.

Separately, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy reported that two oil tankers struck mines near the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway between Iran and Oman, and suffered severe damage.

Reuters reported on Oct. 29 that Iran has built a secret network of military agencies with global reach that has been used to import at least $2 billion in hardware and explosives. The report said these channels have been used to get equipment past the US blockade.