31st Marine Expeditionary Unit Commandeers Ship Trying to Slip Past US Blockade

RedState 

United States Central Command (CENTCOM) released dramatic video Tuesday showing U.S. forces commandeering a vessel in the northwestern part of the Indian Ocean. The ship was suspected of trying to sneak past our blockade, but quickly found out that was a poor choice:

Earlier today in the Arabian Sea, U.S. Marines from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit boarded M/V Blue Star III, a commercial ship suspected of attempting to transit to Iran in violation of the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports. U.S. forces released the vessel after conducting a search and confirming the ship’s voyage would not include an Iranian port call.

American forces continue to operate and enforce the blockade across the Middle East. So far, 39 vessels have been redirected to ensure compliance.

It’s all part of our effort to choke the Islamic Republic of Iran economically after they have consistently refused to agree to acceptable terms for a peace deal.

The U.S.’s economic strangulation of Iran continued when U.S. Marines from the 31st Expeditionary Unit fast roped onto the M/V Blue Star III in the Persian Gulf, after it was suspected of trying to travel to an Iranian port. The video posted by CENTCOM showed Marine helicopters taking off from a U.S. Navy ship in the dawn hours on Tuesday, landing a squad of Marines directly onto the cargo containers of the ship.

As RedState’s streiff reported Sunday, President Trump canceled a visit by a U.S. negotiating delegation because the Iranians clearly weren’t serious about coming to a deal:

President Trump has told… [Fox News’] Aishah Hasnie that he has canceled his envoys' trip to Pakistan to hold talks with Iran. Aishah Hasnie sending us this direct quote from the president:

"I've told my people a little while ago they were getting ready to leave, and I said, 'Nope, you're not making an 18-hour flight to go there. We have all the cards. They can call us anytime they want, but you're not going to be making any more 18-hour flights to sit around talking about nothing'."

However, reports on Tuesday indicate that Iran may be coming back to the table, presumably because they’re getting desperate:

Iran is likely to send a revised proposal to end the war with the U.S. within days, according to reports.

Pakistani mediators will be involved in the process, The Times of Israel reported.

The move came after the U.S. said Iran's latest proposal fell short because it did not include provisions preventing Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

Citing unnamed sources close to the mediation process, the report said the process of devising a new offer is expected to be slow because of difficulties in communicating with Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who is injured.

Until there’s some sort of breakthrough, however, ships attempting to slip by our blockade should do so at their own peril.