Indian-crewed ships: Trump counters Centcom's Hellfire missiles with Iran drones
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- Centcom acknowledged using Hellfire missiles to strike and disable three Indian-crewed tankers — M/T Jalveer, M/T Settebello, and M/T Marivex — near the Gulf of Oman over four days, killing at least three Indian sailors on the Settebello while 65 crew members were rescued.
- Centcom released combat footage showing two Hellfire missiles striking the M/T Jalveer, and said the vessels were violating the US blockade of Iran's oil trade, which it would enforce 'impartially against vessels of all nations.'
- Trump directly contradicted Centcom on Truth Social, blaming a 'totally rebuffed' Iranian drone attack for the strikes on the Indian-crewed vessels and calling it 'TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE,' even as the US blockade itself was authorized by Trump on April 13 to pressure Tehran into a peace deal.
- India summoned US Charge d'Affaires Jason Meeks after a separate commercial vessel with 20 Indian crew members was attacked near Oman's coast, with the Ministry of External Affairs' Additional Secretary (Americas) leading the diplomatic engagement.
- India's Directorate General of Shipping issued a fresh maritime security advisory for Indian mariners, as official estimates show 622 Indian seafarers aboard 13 India-flagged vessels currently operate in waters around the Strait of Hormuz, with nearly 18,000 Indian nationals employed on foreign-flagged merchant ships across the wider Gulf.
Why it matters: The President publicly contradicting his own combatant command's account of the same strikes creates a credibility problem that complicates diplomacy with India, a key strategic partner whose nationals are heavily exposed in the Gulf — and for the 622 Indian seafarers on India-flagged vessels and roughly 18,000 more on foreign ships in the region, contradictory official accounts of who is firing on whom make an already dangerous situation more uncertain.
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