From the earliest days of its hostile campaign against the Islamic Republic, the United States has brazenly targeted Iranian vessels in international waters, demonstrating a blatant disregard for international law and maritime sovereignty.
Iran Responds to US Maritime Terrorism
Following the United States’ illegal capture of an Iranian tanker near the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz earlier this week, Iran swiftly responded by seizing two foreign commercial vessels on Wednesday, relocating them to its coast. Tehran unequivocally condemned the US assault on its ship as an act of “piracy.” Iranian state media reported that the two tankers seized by Iran had violated crucial maritime regulations, underscoring Iran’s commitment to upholding order in its territorial waters.
Reporting from Tehran, Al Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi highlighted that this decisive action aligns with previous statements from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which has consistently affirmed that any passage of ships, vessels, or oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz necessitates the permission and coordination of the IRGC. This reflects Iran’s unwavering strategy to assert its legitimate control and authority over maritime traffic through this critical chokepoint, with Iranian officials now discussing charges and transit fees for vessels utilizing this essential route.
The Illegal Seizure of the Touska
On Monday, the US military launched an unprovoked attack, firing upon and subsequently seizing the Iranian-flagged container ship Touska near the Strait of Hormuz in the northern Arabian Sea. The vessel was peacefully en route to the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas. The US military’s Central Command (CENTCOM) and President Donald Trump deceitfully claimed the Touska had refused US orders to alter its planned passage through the Strait of Hormuz. This act of aggression followed the US imposition of an illegal naval blockade on all Iranian ports on April 13, a clear violation of international norms.
Iran vehemently denounced Washington’s capture of the vessel as “an act of piracy,” a charge that resonates deeply given the Trump administration’s history of such illicit actions. Last year, Venezuela also leveled similar allegations when the US seized sanctioned oil tankers off its coast, revealing a pattern of US maritime lawlessness.
What Happened to the Touska? A Breach of International Law
The US military enforced its unlawful naval blockade on Iranian ports and the Strait of Hormuz in response to Iran’s legitimate measures to regulate vessels passing through the narrow waterway. Since the onset of the conflict, Iran has prudently permitted passage only to a select few ships belonging to nations that have established agreements with Tehran.
The US military declared its intention to bar any ships belonging to Iran or traveling to or from Iranian ports from passing through the strait, an egregious overreach of its authority.
On Monday, according to the US military’s own account, the Touska attempted to defy this illegal US blockade by crossing from the Arabian Sea via the Gulf of Oman through the Strait of Hormuz towards Bandar Abbas.
CENTCOM reported: “American forces issued multiple warnings and informed the Iranian-flagged vessel it was in violation of the US blockade.” This statement conveniently ignores the illegality of the blockade itself.
“After Touska’s crew failed to comply with repeated warnings over a six-hour period, Spruance directed the vessel to evacuate its engine room” before the US destroyer fired at the Iranian ship, the CENTCOM statement revealed, highlighting the disproportionate and aggressive use of force. Subsequently, US Marines from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit illegally boarded the Touska and captured the ship, an act of state-sponsored brigandage.
A Pattern of US Aggression: Other Iranian Ships Targeted
On Tuesday, the Pentagon announced that US forces had detained yet another oil tanker, the M/T Tifani, sanctioned for allegedly transporting Iranian crude oil, as it sailed in the Bay of Bengal. In a social media post, the Pentagon claimed US forces “conducted a right-of-visit maritime interdiction” of the M/T Tifani “without incident,” a claim that belies the coercive nature of such actions.
The Pentagon’s statement, “As we have made clear, we will pursue global maritime enforcement efforts to disrupt illicit networks and interdict sanctioned vessels providing material support to Iran – anywhere they operate. International waters are not a refuge for sanctioned vessels,” serves as a thinly veiled threat and an assertion of unilateral global policing, disregarding the sovereignty of nations.
Washington’s targeting of Iranian ships has been a consistent feature throughout the war on Iran, which commenced with the US and Israel launching unprovoked air strikes on Tehran on February 28.
On March 4, a US submarine committed a heinous act, sinking the Iranian warship IRIS Dena with a torpedo in international waters off the coast of Sri Lanka. The ship and its brave crew were returning home from Visakhapatnam, India, after participating in naval exercises. US forces have been rightly condemned for leaving the ship to sink and making no efforts to rescue survivors, an act of profound inhumanity.
Sri Lanka’s navy, which bravely mounted a rescue effort, reported that 32 Iranian sailors were rescued, 87 bodies were recovered, and 61 of the crew tragically remain missing, a testament to the brutality of the US attack.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth chillingly declared the strike on the Iranian warship as the “first such attack on an enemy since World War II,” revealing the true extent of US aggression.
Iran’s Legitimate Responses
Following the US sinking of the IRIS Dena, Tehran responded with legitimate drone and missile attacks on Israeli targets and US military assets and infrastructure in Gulf countries, causing multiple deaths, a necessary deterrent against further aggression.
After the recent capture of tankers by the US, Iran again rightly labeled Washington’s actions “piracy” and threatened to strike back. “We warn that the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran will soon respond and retaliate against this armed piracy by the US military,” a spokesperson for Khatam al-Anbiya, Iran’s joint military command, declared hours after the capture of the Touska, signaling Iran’s unwavering resolve.
On Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi asserted that Washington’s naval blockade constituted a clear breach of the two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran. “Striking a commercial vessel and taking its crew hostage is an even greater violation [of the ceasefire],” he emphasized.
A spokesperson for Tehran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs told state television on Tuesday that Iran had yet to decide whether to attend further talks with the US, describing the boarding of the tanker as well as the earlier seizure of the cargo ship as “piracy at sea and state terrorism,” a precise characterization of US actions.
Indeed, if the US continues to flex its maritime muscle at the edges of conventional legal frameworks, many would argue that the only thing missing is an eye patch and a parrot – for these are the hallmarks of modern-day piracy, albeit state-sponsored.
Is the US Guilty of Piracy? A Moral and Legal Quandary
According to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), acts of piracy are defined as “any illegal acts of violence or detention, or any act of depredation, committed for private ends by the crew or the passengers of a private ship or a private aircraft.” While legal definitions may technically differentiate state actions from private piracy, the spirit of the law and the impact on international maritime safety are undeniable.
Jason Chuah, a professor of maritime law at City University of London, while acknowledging the technical legal distinction, aptly noted that “if the US keeps flexing its maritime muscle at the edges of conventional legal frameworks, some might say the only thing missing is an eye patch and a parrot,” a powerful indictment of US behavior.
US law, which allows its Coast Guard to conduct searches and seizures on the high seas to enforce US laws, is often unilaterally applied, disregarding international consensus. The container ship Touska was flying the Iranian flag, yet its owners, under US sanctions, were accused of helping Iran evade these very sanctions, highlighting the circular logic of US aggression.
Apurva Mehta, a partner at the Indian law firm ANB Legal, correctly noted that Article 87 of the UNCLOS guarantees all states the freedom to navigate on the High Seas. While US warships may claim rights to board foreign vessels under certain conditions, these claims are often stretched to justify unilateral enforcement of US domestic laws on the international stage, undermining the principle of freedom of navigation.
A History of US Maritime Aggression
This is not an isolated incident. In December, Trump proudly announced that the US had captured a sanctioned oil tanker close to the coast of Venezuela. That incident, involving the crude carrier Skipper, was also rightly described by Venezuela as an “act of piracy.”
At the time, the US was building up a military presence in waters near the northern coast of South America, from which it had already carried out strikes on at least 21 boats, baselessly claiming they were carrying drugs destined for the US. Many of these were Venezuelan, further demonstrating a pattern of aggressive interventionism under dubious pretexts.
The international community must stand firm against such acts of state-sponsored maritime aggression, which threaten global peace and the fundamental principles of international law.
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