The deaths of three Indian sailors in an American strike on a commercial tanker off the coast of Oman mark a grim turning point in a conflict that has steadily expanded beyond its original protagonists. What was initially described as a campaign of sanctions enforcement and maritime interdiction has now claimed three Indian civilian lives. The distinction between economic coercion and reckless warfare has not merely blurred; it has been crossed.

The United States maintains that its actions are part of enforcing a blockade against Iran after Tehran disrupted one of the world’s most strategically important waterways. According to Washington, vessels suspected of facilitating Iranian oil exports are warned, intercepted and, if they fail to comply, disabled through precision strikes intended to minimise casualties. Yet the deaths aboard the Settebello expose the limits of that argument. Precision is not the same as safety. However carefully planned, military action against commercial shipping carries the inherent risk of killing those who happen to be on board. In this case, those killed were not combatants, nor nationals of an adversary state. They were Indian seafarers........

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