President Donald Trump claimed an Iranian-flagged vessel attempted to break the US blockade. US forces attacked and boarded the cargo ship.
“Today, an Iranian-flagged cargo ship named TOUSKA, nearly 900 feet long and weighing almost as much as an aircraft carrier, tried to get past our Naval Blockade, and it did not go well for them,” the President wrote on Truth Social Sunday. “The U.S. Navy Guided Missile Destroyer USS SPRUANCE intercepted the TOUSKA in the Gulf of Oman, and gave them fair warning to stop.”
He continued, “The Iranian crew refused to listen, so our Navy ship stopped them right in their tracks by blowing a hole in the engineroom. Right now, U.S. Marines have custody of the vessel.”
Last week, Trump ordered the US Navy to blockade Iranian ports. The Touska is the first vessel intercepted by the US enforcing the blockade. The President said he ordered the blockade due to Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran reopened the Strait of Hormuz on Friday in response to Israel halting its attacks against Lebanon. While Trump celebrated the opening of the Strait, he said the US would continue to enforce the blockade until Iran signed a peace deal with the US. Tehran then closed the Strait on Saturday.
US forces intercepted the ship hours after President Trump said he was sending a team to Pakistan to present Iran with his final proposal.
