US Central Command ended its 66-day naval blockade of Iran's ports on Thursday 18 June, a day ahead of its own stated wind-down. "American forces are not impeding the transit of vessels to or from Iranian ports," the command said; "all blockade enforcement efforts have ceased"1. CENTCOM is the US military command responsible for the Middle East; its blockade had redirected well over a hundred vessels since April and stood as the most concrete instrument of American pressure in the war.
The lift followed Trump's signing of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding and his order to end the blockade, which CENTCOM had kept running for two days afterwards. What changed on 18 June was the gap between order and execution closing, a day before the deadline the command had set itself.
Until now Trump's de-escalatory signals had stayed on Truth Social. This is the first time an actual instrument moved: a fleet stood down rather than a post published. Halting enforcement also costs Washington nothing, commits it to nothing further, and can be reversed by a single order, which makes the blockade lift the cheapest concession on the table. The deal's other obligations, the frozen assets and the weapons checks, stay unsigned while the one lever that carried no price comes down first.
