Middle East Monitotring Desk Islamabad
While Pakistan is waiting in Islamabad with the most strict security arrangements in Islamabad limiting free movements of the citizens and opening of businesses in the markets for US Iran talks, the parties are at daggers drawn in Persian Gulf at Strait of Hormuz. It is enough to conclude that the dialogue is the least possible in next two days and the ceasefire already came to its end before the date of 22 April 2026.
An Iranian container vessel sailing from China to Iran came under attack by US terrorist forces in the Gulf of Oman, prompting a retaliatory drone response by Iranian military units.
The Iranian container ship identified as Touska was targeted by US terrorist forces on Sunday night while en route from China to Iran through the Gulf of Oman.
Following the attack, Iranian military forces launched drone strikes toward several US military vessels in the area in response.
The United States, claiming to possess the world’s largest military, is indeed acting as a “leader of pirates”.
Alongside Washington’s announcement of a naval blockade against Iran, Tehran has closed the Strait of Hormuz. Any vessel or oil tanker passing through the region without Iranian authorization would face punitive action by Iranian military forces.
US President Donald Trump announced on Sunday night that US forces have seized the Iranian-flagged cargo ship that he claimed was trying to get past a naval blockade near the Strait of Hormuz.
In a social media post, Trump said Touska was warned by a US Navy guided missile destroyer in the Gulf of Oman to stop, but its “crew refused to listen”.
He added that the US Navy “stopped them right in their tracks by blowing a hole in the engine room” and that US Marines had custody of the vessel, and were “seeing what’s on board”.
The US Central Command said Touska was headed to the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas and ignored multiple US warnings over six hours to evacuate the engine room.
The development comes amid a standoff in the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for the shipment of about a fifth of the world’s oil, amid threats from a US blockade on ships heading to and from Iranian ports.
The spokesman for Iran’s Khatam al-Anbia Central Headquarters warned that the latest act of “piracy” by US military forces against an Iranian trade vessel will soon be met with retaliation.
“The aggressive United States, by violating the ceasefire and engaging in maritime banditry, attacked one of Iran’s commercial ships in the waters of the Sea of Oman by opening fire at it, disabling its navigation system, and deploying a number of its terrorist marines onto the deck of the vessel,” the spokesperson said.
“We caution that the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran will soon respond to and retaliate for this act of piracy and armed aggression by the US military,” he added.
His warning came after Iranian container vessel ‘Tousak’ sailing from China to Iran came under attack by US terrorist forces in the Gulf of Oman on Sunday night.
The US Central Command said Touska was headed to the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas and claimed that it ignored multiple US warnings over six hours to evacuate the engine room.
Commander of Iran’s Khatam al-Anbia Central Headquarters warned the US that the naval blockade of Iran constitutes a violation of ceasefire, saying if the blockade continues, Iran will prevent all export and import processes in the Persian Gulf, the Sea of Oman, and the Red Sea.
“If the aggressive and terrorist US continues its illegal action in enforcing a maritime blockade in the region and creating insecurity for Iranian commercial vessels and oil tankers, this action by the US will be a precursor of violation of the ceasefire, and the powerful Armed Forces of Iran will not allow any exports or imports in the Persian Gulf region, the Sea of Oman, and the Red Sea to continue,” Major General Ali Abdollahi said in a statement released on Wednesday.
“Iran will take decisive action to defend its national sovereignty and interests,” the commander emphasized.
The US president said the US Navy stopped the ship by blowing a hole in its engine room.
U.S. forces showed zero tolerance for Iranian defiance in the Arabian Sea on April 19.
After six long hours of ignored warnings, the guided-missile destroyer USS Spruance pumped rounds into the engine room of the Iranian-flagged container ship M/V Touska, crippling its propulsion and bringing the vessel to a dead stop.
Marines from the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli then swooped in by helicopter, rappelled onto the deck, and seized full control of the sanctioned ship as it tried to sneak toward the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas.
The operation, part of the ongoing naval blockade under Operation Epic Fury, sent a clear message: America’s military will enforce the rules on the high seas with overwhelming power and precision. No games, no delays—just decisive action to protect U.S. interests and choke off Iran’s resupply efforts.
