The Marshall Islands have a unique relationship with the United States. It used to be a territory. But since 1986, they have been considered a sovereign nation. However we have an obligation for their defense under a compact we signed.
So this is aimed at us, not so much the Marshallese.
Via Al-Arabiya:
Iran has opened fire at a U.S. cargo ship and directed it to Bandar Abbas port on the southern coast of Iran, Al Arabiya News Channel has reported on Tuesday.
A Pentagon spokesman confirmed to Reuters that Iranian forces had boarded a Marshall Island-flagged vessel, the MV Maersk Tigris, in the Gulf.
The Pentagon spokesman said the incident occurred when the Maersk Tigris was passing through the Strait of Hormuz. A U.S. government official said the ship was intercepted by the Naval force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) at 0905 GMT.
U.S. planes and a destroyer were monitoring the situation after the vessel, the MV Maersk Tigris, made a distress call in the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important oil shipping channels.