President Donald Trump announced on Sunday that the U.S. has seized an Iranian-flagged ship in the Strait of Hormuz that was allegedly attempting to get through the U.S. blockade.
The announcement came at a time when U.S. officials have said that Iran chose to close the Strait of Hormuz to many foreign ships, which is in violation of the fragile ceasefire agreement the two countries recently agreed to. At the same time, some U.S. officials are scheduled to travel to Pakistan next week to continue negotiations to end the war in Iran, which has raged since late February.
“Today, an Iranian-flagged cargo ship named TOUSKA, nearly 900 feet long and weighing almost as much as an aircraft carrier, tried to get past our Naval Blockade, and it did not go well for them,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “The U.S. Navy Guided Missile Destroyer USS SPRUANCE intercepted the TOUSKA in the Gulf of Oman, and gave them fair warning to stop.”
“The Iranian crew refused to listen, so our Navy ship stopped them right in their tracks by blowing a hole in the engineroom (sic),” he added. “Right now, U.S. Marines have custody of the vessel. The TOUSKA is under U.S. Treasury Sanctions because of their prior history of illegal activity. We have full custody of the ship, and are seeing what’s on board!”
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