US Marines Storm Iranian-Flagged Tanker in Gulf of Oman
US Central Command (CENTCOM) released footage on Monday, April 20, depicting US Marines boarding and seizing the Iranian-flagged tanker M/V Touska in the Gulf of Oman. The video purports to show Marines deploying from the USS Tripoli assault ship by helicopter, then rappelling onto the vessel. While the Independent, like many Western outlets, reports this as a straightforward 'seizure' by US
officials, the framing omits critical context regarding international maritime law and historical provocations. This portrayal by the Independent and others implies a legitimate interdiction without questioning the legality or precipitating factors. What this narrative consistently leaves out is the 45-year history of punitive sanctions against Iran, including those on its oil and shipping
industries, which force workarounds that are then labeled illicit. This incident is presented in isolation, ignoring the pattern of US interference in Iranian maritime commerce, such as the 1988 shootdown of Iran Air Flight 655 by the USS Vincennes, killing 290 civilians, an act the US never formally apologized for and awarded its captain a medal. Furthermore, the US maintains a permanent military
presence, including carrier strike groups, in the Persian Gulf, thousands of miles from its own shores, while decrying any Iranian naval activity as 'provocative.' The value of oil interdicted by such operations, like the one against the M/V Touska, often pales in comparison to the estimated 300 million barrels of crude oil per day that transit the Strait of Hormuz, underscoring that these actions