2026 Israeli–United States strikes on Iran

[MapperGuy]

I did confirm that boarding and inspection operations are part of official USMC doctrine for units such as 31st MEU. See https://www.marines.mil/portals/1/Amphibious Ready Group And Marine Expeditionary Unit Overview.pdf#:~:text=Forward deployed MEUs embarked aboard Amphibious Ready,forces, and support designated special operations forces.

I've read/scanned so many articles on the many moving parts of Operation Epic Fury that I'm not sure if this is the one I got the information from

Potential targets for the ARG include Marine deployments on outlying Iranian islands in the straits, serving as a jumping off point to help interdict any Iranian mining or interdiction efforts in the Strait of Hormuz trying to clamp down on the passage of commercial shipping, as the price of oil has climbed by significant margins. However, the Pentagon has not confirmed the intentions behind the Tripoli ARG's new tasking, with no forthcoming statements from any officials as of yet.

[italics added]

https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2026/03/marine-expeditionary-unit-ordered-to-the-middle-east/

So the authors admit that this is speculation on their part although in light of the current military situation I'd call it informed speculation.

[edited to add the **** link]

The Marines are not needed for boarding operations.
If Hegseth's minions think a small ship might have mines they will just sink it, like the 'drug boats' in the Caribbean.
Only the largest ships would be boarded, and if they are tankers belonging to friendly nations they would probably not be boarded.
Even a small number of Marines could perform multiple boarding operations in a day, not like they would stay on board more than a few hours.

Marines are for landing operations, Iranian coast or some of the islands in the Persian Gulf. Where they immediately become targets for Iranian missiles or artillery. Casualties would be inevitable.
Kharg Island might be the target, but even if the bombing of it destroyed anti-aircraft and anti-ship batteries I would assume there are Iranian troops there who would oppose a landing.
Destruction of oil facilities there would be an instant and years long massive increase in world oil prices.

Of course Trump has said when oil prices go up "we" make a lot of money. Meaning US oil companies make lots of money.

 

[Ann K]

If Hegseth's minions think a small ship might have mines they will just sink it, like the 'drug boats' in the Caribbean.

Do sunken ships then become hazards to tankers, and would such an attack cause more problems than it solves?

 

[Landru]

Do sunken ships then become hazards to tankers, and would such an attack cause more problems than it solves?

It depends where it is sunk. The Strait is pretty deep (depths in feet).

https://fishing-app.gpsnauticalchar...it+of+Hormuz+boating+app#8.41/26.4943/56.4421

 

[Landru]

Existing wrecks are indicated by the symbol.

 

[Landru]

BTW, yes I see Patrick Stewart Bank.

https://history.stackexchange.com/questions/78923/how-did-patrick-stewart-bank-get-its-name

The Bank was probably named after Colonel Patrick Stewart (1832–65) who was involved in the laying of the Indo-European Telegraph.

 

[Gary C]

The Marines are not needed for boarding operations.

See my earlier reply. They may not be strictly necessary but would greatly simplify the naval commander's job.
https://www.metabunk.org/threads/2026-israeli–united-states-strikes-on-iran.14770/post-365667

If Hegseth's minions think a small ship might have mines they will just sink it, like the 'drug boats' in the Caribbean.

Not all US military personnel are as cavalier as the SecWAR.

Only the largest ships would be boarded, and if they are tankers belonging to friendly nations they would probably not be boarded.

We know who owns the large ships and all are either sitting in friendly ports and are a non-issue or in Iranian ports and stuck there. Hundreds of smaller vessels sail the Persian Gulf every day and any of them could be dropping mines in the water, launching drones, or collecting intelligence. Some of these activities may not be obvious without physical inspection of the vessel.

Even a small number of Marines could perform multiple boarding operations in a day, not like they would stay on board more than a few hours.

Correct

Marines are for landing operations, Iranian coast or some of the islands in the Persian Gulf. Where they immediately become targets for Iranian missiles or artillery. Casualties would be inevitable.
Kharg Island might be the target, but even if the bombing of it destroyed anti-aircraft and anti-ship batteries I would assume there are Iranian troops there who would oppose a landing.
Destruction of oil facilities there would be an instant and years long massive increase in world oil prices.

The 31st MEU adds enough combat power to conduct raids throughout the region in support the air/missile operations. They can also recover downed pilots from more dangerous situations than the Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR) elements ordinarily assigned to a strike group. If however, I were planning to take Kharq Island, I'd ask my boss for more than three reinforced rifle companies.

Of course Trump has said when oil prices go up "we" make a lot of money. Meaning US oil companies make lots of money.

And by "we" he means his supporters/donors in the US oil patch, but that is getting off topic.

 

[Gary C]

Boots-On-the Ground or Not?

What US Marines can do to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz

The Pentagon has deployed the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, a rapid-response force of about 2,200 Marines, to the Middle East, The Wall Street Journal reported. The U.S. could use the unit to seize one or more of the islands off the southern coast of Iran to use as leverage or as a base to counter Iranian attacks on commercial shipping, according to former and current U.S. officials. The unit, aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli, is slated to arrive in the Middle East from Japan in just over a week.

full article (about a 4 minute read) https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/worl...-help-reopen-the-strait-of-hormuz/ar-AA1YWcWP

 

[enilc]

See my earlier reply. They may not be strictly necessary but would greatly simplify the naval commander's job.
https://www.metabunk.org/threads/2026-israeli–united-states-strikes-on-iran.14770/post-365667

Not all US military personnel are as cavalier as the SecWAR.

87 sailors returning from a fleet review in India might have something to say about that.

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-...ranian-ship-foreign-minister-says-2026-03-04/

 

[Mendel]

According to historian Andrew Holt's review of estimates of causes of war in 2022, historians have not embraced narratives that religion causes war frequently since no quantitative study supports this.

Compare (April 7th):
https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/...journalists-castel-gandolfo-7-april-2026.html

the Pope said he wished simply to say, once again, what he had said in his Urbi et Orbi message on Sunday, "asking all people of goodwill to always search for peace and not violence, to reject war—especially a war which many people have said is unjust, which is continuing to escalate and which is not resolving anything."

Speaking in Italian, he said, "Today, as we all know, there has also been this threat against the entire people of Iran. And this is truly unacceptable! There are certainly issues of international law here, but even more, it is a moral question concerning the good of the people as a whole, in its entirety."

 

[Todd Feinman]

The fog machine of war says something new each day. So we're blockading a blockade. That's like a double encirclement, I think. Like the Battle of Alesia, kind of. But, in this case, if you engage relieving forces / commerce you cause a disaster. So you hang out using treasure and losing lives. If you are what you are, you make crazy threats, try crazy things, and eventually do something terribly stupid. Usually you want to go to war with allies, plans, right kind and amount of force so that victory is a matter of course.
I remember learning about the situation of the Strait of Hormuz in High School in global studies. Our species shouldn't have nukes or AI-guided weapons. We must all agree to go back to the Bronze Age; it's our only hope. It's where we are meant to be, with religion, aggressiveness, etc. And the armour was cool.

Submit to the Bronze Age! We can do this the easy way, or the hard radioactive way!

 

[Todd Feinman]

Bad dream:
You are waiting at the drive through at Mickey D's behind a huge SUV; the guy behind the wheel starts yelling and screaming and he and his passenger jump out and shoot a bazooka at the restaurant, which blows up and catches fire. Gunshots come from the smoldering building.. They see you glaring at them and one of them comes up and says "I had to do it, because my friend was going to do it anyway (friend grins). "YOU'RE WELCOME!!" He says, and then "go in and get your own burgers now!", "We don't need them, we have burgers at home." Then you look around and everything is made from hamburgers!