Trump says US forces intercepted Iranian cargo ship breaching naval blockade
Baku, April 20, AZERTAC
US President Donald Trump said Sunday that American naval forces intercepted and disabled an Iranian-flagged cargo ship that attempted to breach a US naval blockade in the Gulf of Oman, with Marines now holding the vessel in custody.
The USS Spruance, a guided missile destroyer, intercepted the TOUSKA after its crew refused repeated warnings to stop.
"Our Navy ship stopped them right in their tracks by blowing a hole in the engine room," Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.
He said the TOUSKA is under US Treasury sanctions due to prior "illegal" activity and that American forces were inspecting the vessel's cargo.
US Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed the incident, saying the Spruance intercepted the vessel as it transited the northern Arabian Sea at 17 knots, bound for the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas. It released video footage on the US social media company X’s platform showing a US warship warning the vessel before firing.
It said the crew was warned repeatedly over a six-hour period before the destroyer ordered them to evacuate the engine room and fired several rounds from its MK 45 gun, disabling the ship to allow helicopter-borne Marines to board and seize it, according to CENTCOM and reporting by The New York Times.
US forces subsequently began conducting a search of the ship and its cargo, now in American custody, according to The New York Times, citing a US military official. The official said the US would decide what to do with the vessel once the search is completed.
Since the naval blockade of Iranian ports began on April 13, US forces have directed 25 commercial vessels to turn around or return to an Iranian port, CENTCOM added.
The latest incident marked the first reported attempt by a vessel to evade the blockade, while previous ships complied with US warnings.
Ship tracking data shows the TOUSKA departed Port Klang in Malaysia on April 12.
Iran confirmed early Monday that US forces seized an Iranian vessel and warned that it would retaliate “soon.”
The interception comes as shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has been severely disrupted since a US-Israeli offensive on Iran began on Feb. 28.
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