US President Donald Trump said this Sunday (19) that American forces fired and seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship after it tried to overcome the American naval blockade in the Gulf of Oman.
“Today, an Iranian-flagged cargo ship called TOUSKA, nearly 900 feet long and weighing almost as much as an aircraft carrier, tried to bypass our naval blockade, and it didn’t work out for them,” Trump said in a post on the social media site Truth Social.
“The U.S. Navy guided missile destroyer USS SPRUANCE intercepted the TOUSKA in the Gulf of Oman and warned them to stop. The Iranian crew refused to comply, so our Navy ship immediately detained them by cutting a hole in the engine room. At this time, the U.S. Marines are in custody of the ship,” the American president added.
Trump’s announcement comes amid accusations that Iran is violating the current ceasefire agreement with its actions in this important waterway. Tehran has once again blocked the passage of most ships through the strait, alleging a “breach of trust” on the part of the US.
Iranian ambassador criticizes blockade
Minutes before Trump announced the seizure of the ship, Iran’s ambassador to Pakistan criticized the US in a social media post, writing that “fissures remain” as long as the Americans continue to blockade Iranian ports.
Ambassador Reza Amiri Moghadam wrote that the US “cannot continue violating international law, intensifying the blockade, threatening Iran with more war crimes, insisting on unreasonable demands” and “pretending to be practicing ‘diplomacy’”.
“As long as the naval blockade remains, the geological faults will remain,” concluded the publication.
Status of the Strait of Hormuz
The traffic in Strait of Hormuz stayed again paralyzed after .
According to Marine Traffic data, most vessels in the area have moved inland from the Persian Gulf or to relatively safe locations toward the Gulf of Oman.
On Saturday, Iranian speedboats fired at a tanker that was transiting the canal, and a second vessel would have been hit by an “unknown projectile”, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Traffic Organization.
New Delhi said two Indian-flagged vessels were involved in incidents in the strait and summoned his Iranian ambassador to address the matter.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it will block the strait and that “approaching the Strait of Hormuz will be considered cooperation with the enemy, and any offending vessel will be fired upon.”
(With information from Sophia Salfi and Max Saltman, from CNN)
