Iran vows retaliation, accuses US of violating ceasefire after assault on cargo ship Touska.
Printed On 19 Apr 2026
US President Donald Trump has stated United States forces have seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship that attempted to get previous his nation’s naval blockade close to the Strait of Hormuz.
In a social media publish on Sunday, Trump stated the ship, named Touska, was warned by a US Navy guided missile destroyer within the Gulf of Oman to cease, however its “crew refused to pay attention”.
He added that the US Navy “stopped them proper of their tracks by blowing a gap within the engine room” and that US Marines had custody of the vessel, and had been “seeing what’s on board”.
The US Central Command siad Touska was headed to the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas and ignored a number of US warnings over six hours to evacuate the engine room.
Early on Monday, Iran’s high joint army command stated the US had violated a ceasefire reached earlier this month by firing at an Iranian business ship that was heading from China to Iran.
“We warn that the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran will quickly reply and retaliate towards this armed piracy by the US army,” a spokesperson of Khatam al-Anbiya stated.
The event comes amid a standoff within the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for the cargo of a couple of fifth of the world’s oil, amid threats from Iran and a US blockade on ships heading to and from Iranian ports.
Earlier on Sunday, Iranian officers stated ships wouldn’t go whereas the US blockade – in place since April 13 – remained in impact. “It’s unimaginable for others to go by means of the Strait of Hormuz whereas we can not,” Iran’s Speaker of Parliament Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf stated.
Iran had introduced the strait’s reopening after a 10-day truce between Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah took maintain on Friday.
However Iran stated it might proceed implementing its restrictions there after Trump stated the US blockade “will stay in full drive” till Tehran reaches a cope with Washington.
After a short-lived rise in transit makes an attempt on Saturday, ships within the Gulf as soon as once more stayed put, after experiences of vessels coming underneath hearth mid-passage and being compelled to withdraw.
Trump’s assertion got here hours after he stated US negotiators would travel to the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, on Monday for attainable talks with Iran aimed toward ending the US-Israel battle on Iran.
That had raised hopes of extending the delicate ceasefire that’s set to run out by Wednesday. However Iranian state media reported that Tehran had not agreed to a second spherical of talks.
