US seized Iranian-flagged ship while trying to break blockade - Trump

The US Navy detained an Iranian-flagged cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman by "blowing a hole" in its engine room, US President Donald Trump said on Truth Social media.

A U.S. guided-missile destroyer intercepted the cargo ship TOUSKA, which was attempting to break the U.S. naval blockade, Trump wrote. The Iranian crew refused to comply and stop. "So our Navy ship stopped them right there by blowing a hole in the engine room," he added. Trump said the ship, which is on the US Treasury Department's sanctions list, is now under the control of the US military.

On April 13, the U.S. imposed a naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz on all maritime traffic entering and leaving Iranian ports. Since the beginning of the blockade, the U.S. has forced 23 ships trying to pass the Strait of Hormuz to turn around, The Wall Street Journal wrote. The publication's sources said the day before that the U.S. military is preparing to begin boarding Iran-affiliated oil tankers in the coming days, as well as seizing ships in international waters in order to increase economic pressure on Tehran and force it to open the Strait of Hormuz and make concessions in negotiations. Earlier on April 19, Trump said he was sending a delegation to Pakistan for a new round of talks and demanded Tehran accept the deal under threat of destroying all bridges and power plants in the country.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor