Free Republic

The Iranian regime folks are not happy campers right now. They're being squeezed by the U.S. blockade that's costing them an estimated $435 million a day. As Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent explained, that's going to cause their Kharg Island operation to be "shut in" soon. That's the money that sustains the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) that would then be cut off. Meanwhile, the U.S. is even seizing its ships, like the MV Touska, that tried to run the U.S. blockade with some bad materials aboard that could have helped their missile program. So what are the regime's options? They...

On Sunday, Marines from the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli fast-roped from helicopters onto the deck of the Iranian cargo ship M/V Touska to take custody of the vessel, the first seizure of the week-long U.S. military blockade of Iranian ports. The Touska was first disabled by sailors on the Navy destroyer USS Spruance, who fired several shots from its 5-inch MK 45 gun at the vessel’s engine room. Carried out under the cover of darkness, the operation highlighted the capabilities of a small, highly trained group of Marines known as a Maritime Raid Force, or MRF, that specializes in...