WASHINGTON (The Thursday Times) — The US military has set up a task force to stop Iran moving advanced weapons and other material over its land borders and across the Caspian Sea, extending to land the naval blockade that has cut off its oil exports, US Central Command said on Saturday.
Adm. Brad Cooper, the commander of CENTCOM, ordered the formation of Task Force Iron Gate on November 7. The team of about 20 civilian and military staff, based at the command’s headquarters in Tampa, Florida, will work with other US government agencies to prevent the movement of “advanced weapons systems, dual-use technologies, sanctioned materials, and illegal revenue streams” across Iran’s land borders and the Caspian Sea, the command said.
“The establishment of Task Force Iron Gate reinforces the success of our ironclad blockade against Iran at sea,” Cooper said. “Strengthening CENTCOM’s collaboration with U.S. interagency partners will further constrain Iran’s ability to finance terrorism, rebuild weapons factories, and replenish their military.”
The blockade at sea: the naval blockade, announced in July, covers all Iranian ports on the Gulf and the Gulf of Oman and bars imports and exports except humanitarian aid. In recent months it has stopped Iran exporting more than $25 billion of crude oil, CENTCOM said, and enforcement continues against all ships entering or leaving Iranian ports.
Iran shares land borders with seven countries, including Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq and Turkey, and the Caspian links it by sea with Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan. CENTCOM did not say how the task force would act on those routes beyond coordinating the US government’s efforts.
The move comes as Washington keeps up pressure on Tehran while pursuing talks. On Friday the State Department offered up to $20 million for information on Iran’s nuclear programme, and Vice President JD Vance has been speaking almost daily to Field Marshal Asim Munir and Qatar’s prime minister about a new ceasefire and a return to nuclear negotiations.
