New York : There is a curious contradiction at play. On the one hand, the US Armed Forces’ Central Command (Centcom), responsible for prosecuting the war against Iran, has more or less given iron-clad proof that it struck three commercial tankers operated entirely by Indian crews, killing at least three Indian sailors. At the same time, President Donald Trump, also the Commander-in-Chief of the US Armed Forces, is saying something entirely different.
The M/T Jalveer, M/T Settebello, and M/T Marivex, were all struck over a period of four days, resulting in at least three Indian seafarers on the Settebello losing their lives, while 65 others from the three vessels were rescued and brought to shore. Centcom attested that the struck vessels were violating the US blockade of Iran’s oil trade. Centcom also shared a video of them launching two hellfires at the M/T Jalveer, while stating the blockade would continue to be “enforced impartially against vessels of all nations.”
President Donald Trump directly contradicted Centcom’s statement. In a post on the social media platform, Truth Social, Trump, while lambasting Iran for allegedly leaking the terms of a potential peace deal to the “Fake News”, decided to assign the blame for the strikes on the Indian crewed vessels, on Iran. Trump blaming the attacks on Indian-crewed ships comes after India lodged a strong diplomatic protest with the US.
Trump’s claims, for all intents and purposes, completely contradict what the US forces are stating. Centcom’s own statement explicitly described the use of Hellfire missiles against vessels it accused of violating the blockade. The President’s version, however, effectively shifts responsibility for the attacks away from the US and onto Iranian drones, raising questions about whether the White House and the military are publicly describing the same incident.
India, of course, has good reason to be worried. According to official estimates, 622 Indian seafarers aboard 13 India-flagged vessels are currently operating in waters to the west and east of the Strait of Hormuz. Nearly 18,000 Indian nationals are employed on hundreds of foreign-flagged merchant ships across the wider Gulf region, making India one of the countries most exposed to the deteriorating maritime security situation.
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