- Trump said the MV/Touska is under US Treasury sanctions “because of prior history of illegal activity”
- CENTCOM says US forces have directed 25 commercial vessels to turn around since the blockade started
TEHRAN/WASHINGTON: Iran’s top joint military command, Khatam al-Anbiya, accused the US of violating a ceasefire by firing at one of Iran’s commercial ships in the Gulf of Oman, vowing to retaliate.
State media quoted a Khatam Al-Anbiya spokesperson as saying early on Monday that the vessel was en route from China to Iran.
“We warn that the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran will soon respond and retaliate against this armed piracy by the US military,” the spokesperson said.
US President Donald Trump earlier announced that a US destroyer ship fired on and seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship as it tried to evade a US naval blockade.
Trump posted on Truth Social that after the Iranian vessel, Touska, ignored warnings to stop, the guided missile destroyer USS Spruance “stopped them right in their tracks by blowing a hole in the engineroom.”
“Right now, US Marines have custody of the vessel,” the US president added, “and are seeing what’s on board!“
The incident comes with tensions high in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital conduit for the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas, which has been virtually closed since the start of the US-Israeli war with Iran seven weeks ago.
Iran briefly reopened the strait on Friday in recognition of an Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire in Lebanon, but closed it again the following day in response to the US maintaining its blockade on ships traveling to and from Iranian ports.
Trump said the Touska is under US Treasury sanctions “because of prior history of illegal activity.”
The Touska is listed on the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control website as an Iranian-flagged container under US sanctions.
Tankers reported turned back at Hormuz Strait
In a post on X, the US Central Command, or CENTCOM, said the US Navy’s guided-missile destroyer USS Spruance repeatedly warned the Touska, which was enroute to Bandar Abbas, Iran, to turn back as it was violating the US blockade.
“After Touska’s crew failed to comply with repeated warnings over a six-hour period, Spruance directed the vessel to evacuate its engine room” before firing its 5-inch MK 45 Gun to disable the ship’s engine.
It was the first such interception since the blockade of Iranian ports began last week.
Since the blockade’s commencement, US forces have directed 25 commercial vessels to turn around or return to an Iranian port, the post added.
Two liquefied petroleum gas tankers attempted to transit the Strait on Saturday morning but made a U-turn after reaching waters south of Larak Island, MarineTraffic vessel tracking data showed. Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported that the vessels were turned back by Iran’s armed forces. One of the tankers – the Angola-flagged LPG tanker G Summer — later exited the Gulf on a second attempt on Saturday evening, signaling “China owner,” according to the data.
Friday’s announcement that the strait would reopen caused the sharpest one-day drop in oil prices in years and boosted stock markets to all-time highs.
Amrita Sen, founder of the Energy Aspects think tank, predicted oil prices would rise on Monday when traders returned to their desks having realized they might have been overly optimistic.
“Events over the weekend with Iran firing on merchant vessels and shutting the strait again highlight just how precarious the situation is,” Sen said. Pressure for a way out of the war has mounted on Trump as his fellow Republicans prepare to defend narrow majorities in Congress in the November midterm elections, with US gasoline prices high, inflation rising and his own approval ratings down.
BY: The Times Union
