The tip for tap maritime/naval provocations between the US and Iran continue for largely regulatory financial reasons, as the Iranian Navy seized a cargo ship in the Straits of Hormuz. More interesting is that it is the Revolutionary Guards Navy that has taken this action rather than the larger Islamic Republic of Iran Navy (IRIN). USS Farragut (DDG-99) is on station to monitor the situation.
Pentagon officials say the US is monitoring the seizure by Iran of a Marshall Islands-flagged cargo ship.
The MV Maersk Tigris was moving through Iranian waters in the Straits of Hormuz, according to the Pentagon.
Iranian patrol vessels fired warning shots across the bow of the boat, US officials said, branding the action "inappropriate".
A US naval destroyer has been ordered to the region to "monitor" the situation.
After the warning shots, the ship complied with orders to go deeper into Iranian waters, a Pentagon spokesman said.
The ship was in an area recognised as an international shipping lane, he went on.
US aircraft were ordered to the area to "observe the interaction" between the Maersk vessel and Iranian forces.
There are no reports of any injuries.
The Fox News spin on the matter at this time:
"It is inappropriate" for the Iranians to have fired warning shots across the ship's bridge in those circumstances, Warren said, adding that it was too early to know whether the Iranian intervention amounted to a violation of the freedom of navigation through a waterway heavily used by international shipping.
The spokesman said the U.S. government has "certain obligations" to defend the interests of the Marshall Islands, but he was uncertain how those obligations apply in this situation.
Warren said no one has been injured and no Americans are involved. The cargo ship issued a distress call and U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, based in the area.
And
USA Today speculates:
The strait is the transit point for 85% of crude oil shipped from the Persian Gulf to Asian markets. The shipping lane in either direction is only 2 miles wide, separated by a 2-mile buffer zone, according to the Energy Information Agency, part of the U.S. Energy Department.
It is bordered by Oman to the south and Iran to the north. Each country claims a 12-mile maritime border, but, according to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, they share the strait and allow "innocent passage" to civilian ships...
Christopher Harmer, a former military planner for the U.S. Navy in the Persian Gulf who was present for multiple transits of the strait, said the shipping lanes are so narrow that ships ply the waters in single file in each direction. Commercial vessels have transponders that allow authorities on shore to monitor whether they are on track.
Iranian patrol boats and gunboats closely monitor the traffic and challenge ships that veer off course, but usually a verbal challenge by ship-to-ship radio is as far as it goes, Harmer said.
Why it happened this time is unclear. Harmer said it could be retaliation for the U.S. blockade of Iranian-backed Houthi rebels who control much of Yemen.
A holistic view of the evidence, however, reveals that at the same time Iran has reduced the size, scope and reach of its local maritime exercises, it has also taken three distinct actions that reflect its broad, strategic ambitions. First, Iran has reprioritized some of its local maritime exercises towards solidifying or expanding territorial claims in the Persian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz, and Caspian Sea. Second, IRIN has significantly increased its long-range deployments in support of strategic relationships with key partners. Third, at the same time that IRISL is being used to support Iranian objectives logistically, IRIN may also be conducting similar operations. Taken as a whole, these three trends indicate Iran is modifying and expanding its maritime activities in support of strategic objectives.
Iran has physical control over the Persian Gulf islands of Abu Musa, Greater Tunb, and Lesser Tunb. These islands are strategically located just outside the Strait of Hormuz, in the Persian Gulf. Although the United Arab Emirates (UAE) claims legal ownership of the islands, the physical possession of the islands is not in dispute — Iran has military garrisons and commercial ventures in place on each of these islands. By conducting short range exercises that highlight control over the disputed islands, Iran hopes to solidify its legal claim to the islands, as well as highlight its military capability to potential enemies. Iranian claims to the disputed islands also factor into legal claims that it should control access to the Strait of Hormuz.