The Obama administration insists on decoupling the nuclear negotiations with Iran from Iran’s overall abysmal record of behavior as a member of the international community.

Iranian’s High Seas Thuggery

 by Joseph Klein

In yet another violation of the norms of international law, an Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy craft fired shots on April 28th across the bridge of a commercial cargo ship which was transiting the Strait of Hormuz on an internationally recognized maritime route. 

The incident occurred after the ship master of the Marshall Islands-flagged vessel, known as the M/V Maersk Tigris, first refused direction from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy to “divert further into Iranian waters,” according to Pentagon spokesman Col. Steve Warren. The ship master did not wait for another burst of fire before deciding to comply with the Iranian demand and proceed as directed. The USS Farragut was ordered to head towards the location of the incident after U.S. forces received a distress call from the Maersk Tigris. U.S. warplanes also were called in to monitor the situation.

Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy forces reportedly boarded the ship, which had approximately thirty people on board. Although no Americans were on the ship when it was seized, the United States nevertheless has the “responsibility for security and defense matters in or relating to the Republic of the Marshall Islands” under the terms of the Compact of Free Association between the U.S. and the Marshall Islands.

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