The Iranian Armed Forces have vowed a swift response to the US seizure of an Iranian vessel in the Gulf of Oman, after US Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed that it had intercepted a merchant ship allegedly attempting to breach an American blockade in the region.
Earlier, US President Donald Trump announced that US forces had intercepted an Iranian-flagged cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman, damaging its engine room.
“U.S. forces operating in the Arabian Sea enforced naval blockade measures against an Iranian-flagged cargo vessel attempting to sail toward an Iranian port, April 19,” the command said in a statement.
According to CENTCOM, the Iranian vessel received several warnings about the blockade violation.
“After Touska’s crew failed to comply with repeated warnings over a six-hour period, Spruance directed the vessel to evacuate its engine room. Spruance disabled Touska’s propulsion by firing several rounds from the destroyer’s 5-inch MK 45 Gun into Touska’s engine room,” the statement reads.
Following this, US Marines boarded the cargo ship. According to the command, the ship is currently under US control.
“Since the blockade’s commencement, U.S. forces have directed 25 commercial vessels to turn around or return to an Iranian port,” the command said.
Reacting to the US move, a spokesman for Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Military Command said that Iran would respond swiftly to the seizure of an Iranian vessel by the US military in the Gulf of Oman.
“We warn that the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran will soon respond and retaliate against this armed piracy by the U.S. military,” a spokesman for the Iranian military command said, as quoted by Reuters.
On April 13, the US Navy began blockading all maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports on both sides of the Strait of Hormuz, which accounts for approximately 20% of the world’s oil, petroleum products, and LNG supplies. Washington maintains that non-Iranian vessels are free to transit the Strait of Hormuz as long as they do not pay Tehran a toll. Iranian authorities have not announced the imposition of a toll, but have discussed such plans.
