Middle East
Guided-missile destroyer USS Spruance intercepted an Iranian-flagged cargo vessel attempting to sail toward an Iranian port on April 19. Photo: Screengrab/ US CENTCOM
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iran vowed retaliation on Monday after President Donald Trump said US forces had taken custody of an Iranian-flagged cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman, deepening tensions ahead of the upcoming negotiations and the fragile ceasefire due to expire on Wednesday.
Tasnim News Agency, affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), reported the incident in a statement, saying that “a few hours ago, American terrorist military forces attacked an Iranian container ship named the Touska, which was en route from China to Iran, in the Gulf of Oman,” describing the US as “the claimant of the world’s largest military force [that] has become the ringleader of pirates!”
It added that “simultaneous with the US announcement of a naval blockade of Iran, Iran has also completely closed the Strait of Hormuz; any ship or tanker passing through the region without Iranian authorization will be punished by Iranian forces.”
Tehran’s response came after Trump said Sunday US forces had taken custody of the vessel, stating, “We have full custody of the ship, and we are seeing what's on board.”
The US president’s remarks came hours after he said that his negotiators were heading to Islamabad on Monday evening to reach a deal, calling on Iran to accept it or face serious consequences.
The US and Israel launched a preemptive air campaign on February 28, targeting more than 15,000 sites over six weeks of hostilities before the two sides agreed on April 8 to halt fighting for two weeks.
On Saturday, IRGC said it had closed the Strait of Hormuz and fired on a number of vessels. On Friday, Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said in a post on X that the Strait had been reopened for the remainder of the ceasefire period, a move that led to a sharp drop in oil prices.
Both sides have continued to exchange rhetoric since the ceasefire was announced, while Pakistani and other negotiators attempt to ease tensions.
Tasnim said that, following the US attack on the Iranian vessel, "Iranian forces launched drone attacks against several American warships,” warning that “Iran has previously announced that it will retaliate in kind against any American action.”
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