The International Maritime Security Construct (IMSC) reported that it had on 12 August “monitored an incident involving Iranian forces who boarded a tanker in the international waters of the Gulf of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz”. The IMSC further asserted that “Iran’s use of its military forces to conduct an armed boarding of a commercial vessel in international waters constitutes a blatant violation of international law that undermines freedom of navigation and the free flow of commerce… this type of reckless, aggressive behaviour by Iran destabilises the region and threatens the rules-based international order”.