Iran’s seizure of the Marshall Islands-flagged MV Maresk Tigris is the latest example of the powerful Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps flexing their influence, experts tell FoxNews.com.
This move by the Revolutionary Guard comes amid ongoing negotiations over Iran’s controversial nuclear program and an unraveling security situation in Yemen involving Iranian-backed rebels.
“There is a range of possible motivations … just a mistake (I don’t really believe that), or a way to ratchet up the pressure on Saudi Arabia and the Saudi coalition right now that is trying to constrain the opposition inside Yemen," said Army Brigadier General Ernie Audino (Ret.), who served a tour in Iraq where he commanded a team of combat advisers embedded with the Iraqi Army.
“The Iranians are feeling a little bit of pressure from the United States … threatening the straits is something they have periodically done,” said Ambassador Eric Edelman, a distinguished fellow with the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments.