Iran has issued a stern warning to the United States, declaring its intention to “soon retaliate” following the US Navy’s interception of an Iranian-flagged cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz.
The Iranian government has accused the US of breaching a two-week ceasefire, describing the capture of the Touska vessel as an act of “maritime and armed robbery.”
This warning follows reports that the Islamic Republic turned down a second round of peace discussions after President Donald Trump announced plans for new negotiations on Monday.
Tehran has cited the US’s “excessive demands” and its continued blockade of the Strait of Hormuz as reasons for not participating in talks, according to Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency.
The agency further reported that Iran attributes its refusal to negotiate to “Washington’s excessive demands, unrealistic expectations, frequent changes in position, repeated inconsistencies, and the ongoing naval blockade.”
This development unfolds just a day before US Vice President JD Vance is scheduled to visit Pakistan for peace negotiations amid a tenuous two-week ceasefire.
Iran has warned the US it will ‘soon retaliate’ after the US Navy seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz
After Touska’s crew failed to comply with warnings over a six-hour period, the Spruance fired several rounds from the destroyer’s 5-inch MK 45 Gun into Touska’s engine room
The president touted the attack via Truth Social on Sunday afternoon, ahead of peace talks between negotiators from the US and Iran in Islamabad, Pakistan, on Monday
Iran’s Hazrat Khatam al-Anbiya military headquarters confirmed the attack by the US military on a ship in the Sea of Oman in a statement carried by the Tasnim News Agency.
‘The aggressive America, by violating the ceasefire and committing maritime piracy, attacked one of Iran’s commercial ships in the waters of the Sea of Oman by firing upon it and disabling its navigation system by deploying several of its terrorist marines on the deck of the mentioned vessel,’ it said, confirming that the ship had been seized.
‘We warn that the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran will soon respond to and retaliate against this armed piracy by the US military,’ it added.
Iran’s top diplomat has told his Pakistani counterpart that Washington’s demands in negotiations and its threats to Iranian ships and ports mark ‘clear signs’ of America’s disingenuousness.
Abbas Aragchi made the remarks in a phone call to Pakistan´s foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, according to Iranian state media.
It´s another indication of how the Washington-Tehran standoff is sharpening as the ceasefire is set to expire on Wednesday.
It could also shake up plans for a new US-Iran round of talks in Islamabad this week.
The Iranian military headquarters said the attack and subsequent boarding of the Iranian vessel by US forces was a violation of the ceasefire and an act of ‘maritime piracy,’ according to Iran’s state-run broadcaster.
American troops have blown a hole through an Iranian cargo ship after it attempted to pass through the US blockade of the country’s coastline, according to Donald Trump
Sailors and Marines are seen aboard the landing ship USS Rushmore
US Central Command posts about the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday. Sailors and Marines aboard dock landing ship USS Rushmore conduct blockade operations in the Arabian Sea
A tanker sits anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Qeshm Island, Iran, on Saturday
A police officer stands guard at a checkpoint on a barricaded road to ensure security ahead of the second round of the U.S. Iran officials talks, in Islamabad, Pakistan, on Sunday
The United States says it fired on the ship and seized it because it had crossed the blockade line after ignoring multiple warnings.
US Central Command released a message sent by a US Mariner to the Iranian-flagged tanker in a video posted on X, saying it shows the moments before the U.S. seized Touska for crossing the U.S.-imposed blockade line in the Gulf of Oman.
‘Motor vessel Touska, Motor vessel Touska. Vacate your engine room. Vacate your engine room. We are about to subject you to disabling fire,’ can be heard in the video. Later, three rounds are fired, leaving smoke in their wake.
CENTCOM said its fire targeted the vessel´s engine room before forces seized the ship. It said Touska was headed to the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas and ignored multiple US warnings over six hours to evacuate the engine room.
The USS Spruance then fired, after which Marines boarded and took hold of the ship.
‘American forces acted in a deliberate, professional, and proportional manner to ensure compliance,’ it wrote on X.
Trump said on Truth Social on Sunday that Iran had ‘fired bullets’ in the Strait of Hormuz, adding that ‘many of them were aimed at a French ship and a freighter from the United Kingdom.’
The president said the ship was warned by a US Navy guided missile destroyer in the Gulf of Oman to stop but it did not.
‘Our Navy ship stopped them right in their tracks by blowing a hole in the engine room,’ Trump explained.
He said US Marines had custody of the cargo ship and were ‘seeing what´s on board!’
The seizure escalates a back-and-forth with Iran over traffic in the strait and comes as the US was preparing for a second round of in-person talks with Iran as a fragile ceasefire runs out in days.
This is a breaking story – more follows…
