Apr 22, 2026
Iran is accusing the U.S. Navy of "armed piracy" (1) after American forces fired on and seized an Iranian cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman. Meanwhile, a bill in Congress could soon make similar moves legal for private American citizens.
On April 19, the guided-missile destroyer USS Spruance intercepted an Iranian-flagged cargo ship, Touska, as it headed toward the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas in violation of a U.S. naval blockade (2).
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U.S. Central Command reported on X (3) that the crew ignored repeated warnings for over six hours, after which the Spruance eventually fired into the ship's engine room to disable it. Marines from the USS Tripoli then rappelled from helicopters onto the deck and took control of the vessel.
Donald Trump announced the seizure on Truth Social (4), noting that the Touska weighs (5) almost as much as an aircraft carrier.
"The Iranian crew refused to listen, so our Navy ship stopped them right in their tracks by blowing a hole in the engine room. Right now, U.S. Marines have custody of the vessel."
Iran is promising to strike back. A military spokesperson warned (6) that "the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran will soon respond and retaliate against this armed piracy by the U.S. military."
The incident has thrown a second round of peace talks in Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, into question.
Iran claims the U.S. violated a ceasefire that began on April 9 and was to expire April 22. And as a result, Iranian state media says the country may not send (7) negotiators back to Pakistan.
Turning private citizens into privateers
While the American navy handles the current blockade, some lawmakers want to empower private citizens and their businesses to take over enemy ships and crew — currently an act of piracy.
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In December 2025, Sen. Mike Lee and Rep. Tim Burchett introduced (8) the Cartel Marque and Reprisal Authorization Act.
The bill would allow the president to issue "letters of marque and reprisal." These are government commissions that give private citizens legal permission to seize enemy ships and personnel.
The U.S. used them heavily during the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. Back then, private vessels captured (9) three times as many British ships as the American Navy did.
They fell out of use after the 1856 Declaration of Paris (10) effectively abolished privateering internationally. The U.S. refused to sign the declaration and its power to issue them is still embedded in the Constitution (Article I, Section 8, Clause 11), but Congress hasn't authorized a president (11) to issue letters of marque since the Civil War.
The bill now before Congress targets drug cartels rather than Iran. It would allow "privately armed and equipped persons" to seize cartel members and property outside U.S. borders.
"Cartels have replaced corsairs in the modern era," Lee said when introducing the bill (12). "But we can still give private American citizens and their businesses a stake in the fight against these murderous foreign criminals."
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When Sen. Mike Lee asked if people would like to seize cartel assets as a privateer on X, Elon Musk replied (13) "This would work incredibly well, as it has throughout history".
Donald Trump Jr. also called it (14) an "effective, efficient, @DOGE-compliant way to combat Mexican drug cartels."
Where the bill stands
The bill is currently stalled with the House version stuck in the House Foreign Affairs Committee, while the Senate version sitting with the Committee on Foreign Relations.
GovTrack estimates (15) the bill has a mere 10% chance of getting past committee and 4% chance of being enacted, so there's not much hope it'll see the light of day anytime soon.
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Critics at Lawfare (16) argue that sending private armed operators into another sovereign country, even with a letter of marque, would be considered an act of war. It can undermine law enforcement cooperation with Mexico and create accountability gaps that government forces don't have.
Tthat's because the bill doesn't really provide a framework for oversight, rules of engagement or how to handle mistakes.
Iran's objection to the USS Spruance's actions on Sunday is telling: a uniformed U.S. A Navy destroyer, operating under a declared blockade, enforced it against a sanctioned vessel — and Iran still calls it "armed piracy."
If the U.S. military doing this is "piracy" to one party, a private operator doing something similar under a letter of marque would be an even harder case to argue internationally.
The bill won't become law this week. But the U.S. Navy's seizure, and Iran's word choice, put a surprisingly clear spotlight on what the bill, when passed, could do, and what it could mean for international diplomacy.
Article Sources
We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.
BBC (1); Axios (2); X (3),(13),(14); Truth Social (4); Maritime Optima (5); YouTube (6); Al Jazeera (7); Senator Mike Lee (8),(12); Google Books (9); Emerging Civil War (10); U.S. Congress (11); GovTrack (15); Lawfare (16)
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Godwin Oluponmile is a content specialist, SEO strategist and copywriter with seven years of expertise in finance, Web 3.0, B2B SaaS and technology.
