Iran threatens to respond after US Navy seizes an Iranian-flagged cargo ship

President Donald Trump said the US forcibly seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship that tried to get around a naval blockade near the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, the first such interception since the blockade of Iranian ports began last week.

He said a US Navy guided missile destroyer in the Gulf of Oman "stopped them right in their tracks by blowing a hole in the engineroom” and that US Marines had custody of the vessel, named Touska, and were "seeing what’s on board!”

Iran’s joint military command said Tehran will respond soon and called the US seizure an act of piracy.

The news threw into question Trump’s earlier announcement that US negotiators would head to Pakistan on Monday for another round of talks with Iran. That had raised hopes of extending a fragile ceasefire set to expire by Wednesday, but Iran has not confirmed it would attend.

The escalating standoff threatened to deepen the energy crisis roiling the global economy and push the two countries toward renewed fighting that has killed at least 3,000 people in Iran, nearly 2,300 in Lebanon, 23 civilians and 15 soldiers in Israel, and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states. Thirteen US service members have also been killed.

Associated Press