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The United States attacked and seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship it said had tried to evade a naval blockade near the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, and Iran’s joint military command vowed to respond, throwing a fragile ceasefire into question days before it expires.
It was the first interception since the US blockade of Iranian ports began last week. Iran’s joint military command called the armed boarding an act of piracy and a ceasefire violation, the state broadcaster said.
With the US-Iran standoff over the strait sharpening and the ceasefire expiring by Wednesday, it was not clear where President Donald Trump’s earlier announcement that US negotiators would head to Pakistan on Monday for new talks with Iran now stood.
The uncertainty sent oil prices rising again. One of the worst global energy crises in decades threatened to deepen.
Trump on social media said a US Navy guided missile destroyer in the Gulf of Oman warned the Iranian-flagged ship, the Touska, to stop and then “stopped them right in their tracks by blowing a hole in the engine room.” US Marines had custody of the US-sanctioned vessel and were “seeing what’s on board!” It was not clear whether anyone was hurt. The US Central Command, which did not answer questions, said the destroyer had issued “repeated warnings over a six-hour period.”
Iranian state media suggest the talks won’t take place
There was no comment from Iranian officials directly addressing Trump’s announcement of talks. However, Iranian state media, without citing anyone beyond unnamed sources, issued brief reports suggesting that they would not happen.Minutes after the ship seizure was announced, Iranian state media reported on President Masoud Pezeshkian’s phone conversation with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif earlier Sunday.US actions including bullying and unreasonable behaviour have led to increased suspicion that the US will repeat previous patterns and “betray diplomacy,” the reports cited Pezeshkian as saying.
Iran’s state broadcaster said Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told his Pakistani counterpart on another call that recent US actions, rhetoric and contradictions were signs of “bad intentions and lack of seriousness in diplomacy.” Pakistan did not confirm a second round of talks, but authorities had begun tightening security in Islamabad. A regional official involved in the efforts said mediators were finalising preparations and US advance security teams were on the ground. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss preparations with the media.
The White House had said Vice President J D Vance, who led the first round of historic face-to-face talks over 21 hours last weekend, would lead the US delegation to Pakistan with envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
Iran on Saturday said it had received new proposals from the United States. While Iran’s chief negotiator, parliament speaker Mohammed Bagher Qalibaf, late Saturday said “there will be no retreat in the field of diplomacy,” he acknowledged a wide gap remained between the sides.
It was unclear whether either side had shifted stances on issues that derailed the last round of negotiations, including Iran’s nuclear enrichment programme, its regional proxies and the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump’s announcement on talks repeated his threats against Iranian infrastructure that have drawn widespread criticism and warnings of war crimes. If Iran does not agree to the US-proposed deal, “the United States is going to knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran,” he wrote.
Iran wants to control strait until war fully ends
Ships remained unable to transit the critical waterway amid threats and attacks by Iran and the US blockade of ships heading to and from Iranian ports. Hundreds of vessels were waiting at each end for clearance.Roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil trade normally passes through the strait, along with critical supplies of fertiliser for the world’s farmers, natural gas and humanitarian supplies for places in dire need like Afghanistan and Sudan.
Iran had announced the strait’s reopening after a 10-day truce between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon took hold on Friday. But then Trump said the US blockade “will remain in full force” until Tehran reaches a deal with the United States, and Iran said it would again enforce the restrictions it imposed early in the war. On Saturday, Iran fired at ships trying to transit.
For the Islamic Republic, the strait’s closure is perhaps its most powerful weapon, inflicting political pain on Trump. For the United States, the blockade squeezes Iran’s already weakened economy. Each side has accused the other of violating the ceasefire.
Since most supplies to US military bases in the Gulf region come through the strait, “Iran is determined to maintain oversight and control over traffic through the strait until the war fully ends,” Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said late Saturday. That means Iran-designated routes, payment of fees and issuance of transit certificates.
The council has recently acted as Iran’s de facto top decision-making body.
The war is now in its eighth week after the US and Israel launched it on February 28 during talks over Tehran’s nuclear programme. At least 3,000 people have been killed in Iran, more than 2,290 in Lebanon, 23 in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states. Fifteen Israeli soldiers in Lebanon and 13 US service members throughout the region have been killed.
