US marines board Iranian tanker

U.S. Marines boarded an Iranian-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman on May 20, according to U.S. Central Command and military video published on DVIDS. The vessel, identified as the M/T Celestial Sea, was suspected of attempting to violate a U.S. blockade by transiting toward an Iranian port, CENTCOM said. American forces later released the ship after searching it and directing the crew to alter course, according to the military account. CNBC-TV18, in a live update on May 21, reported the same boarding and said an Iranian lawmaker responded by declaring that the era of trusting U.S. diplomacy was over. ### Which ship did U.S. forces stop in the Gulf of Oman? The M/T Celestial Sea was the vessel boarded by Marines from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, according to DVIDS video and a Reuters report citing CENTCOM. The boarding took place in the Gulf of Oman on Wednesday, May 20. Reuters reported that the tanker was Iranian-flagged and commercial. (dvidshub.net) CENTCOM’s account, as reproduced in the DVIDS posting, said U.S. forces released the vessel after a search and after ordering its crew to change course. ### Why did the Marines board it? U.S. Central Command said the tanker was suspected of attempting to violate a U.S. blockade by sailing toward an Iranian port. (dvidshub.net) That rationale appears in the DVIDS description of the operation and in subsequent media reports quoting CENTCOM. ABC News, citing the U.S. military, described the move as part of the Trump administration’s effort to enforce the blockade and pressure Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. (usnews.com) That characterization was attributed by ABC to the administration and the broader U.S. policy context. ### Was this an isolated boarding? (dvidshub.net) May 8 offers the clearest recent comparison. CENTCOM said U.S. forces disabled two Iranian-flagged unladen oil tankers, M/T Sea Star III and M/T Sevda, in the Gulf of Oman, and said another vessel, M/T Hasna, had been disabled on May 6. (abcnews.com) A DVIDS summary of CENTCOM activity said that, as of May 13, U.S. forces had redirected 67 commercial vessels, allowed 15 humanitarian-supporting ships to pass, and disabled four to enforce the blockade. Those figures come from U.S. military materials and were not independently verified in the source documents reviewed here. ### What did Iranian officials say after the boarding? (centcom.mil) CNBC-TV18 reported on May 21 that an Iranian lawmaker said the era of trusting U.S. diplomacy was over. The live blog did not, in the excerpt available through search, provide the lawmaker’s full remarks beyond that line. (dvidshub.net) That response came as U.S.-Iran talks were still being described publicly as active. CNBC-TV18 and earlier coverage from the same outlet said negotiations were continuing even as blockade enforcement and maritime incidents mounted in and around the Gulf of Oman and Strait of Hormuz. (cnbctv18.com) ### What matters next for shipping in the area? The Gulf of Oman and the Strait of Hormuz remain the waterways to watch because CENTCOM has publicly framed its actions as ongoing blockade enforcement. DVIDS and CENTCOM materials show repeated U.S. interdictions, boardings, redirections and, in some cases, disabling strikes against vessels headed toward Iranian ports. (cnbctv18.com) The next concrete markers are likely to be new CENTCOM statements, additional DVIDS footage, or public comments from Washington and Tehran on the status of the tanker, the blockade and the talks. As of May 21, the U.S. account says the Celestial Sea was released after the search and rerouting order. (dvidshub.net)