The US has intercepted an Iranian-flagged cargo ship in the Gulf as part of its naval blockade, Donald Trump said.
The US president wrote on his Truth Social platform that the Touska was seized by the US Navy after failing to respond to a warning to stop, reports BBC.
Iran said it was a violation of the ceasefire and it would retaliate soon for the “act of armed piracy”.
The development came shortly after the White House confirmed that US Vice-President JD Vance would head a delegation to Pakistan for a second round of talks aimed at ending the war with Iran.
Tehran has yet to confirm its participation. Iranian state media reported that officials would not attend negotiations while the US blockade remains in place.
“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,” Trump wrote.
He added that the US had issued a warning to the vessel, which was ignored, “so our Navy ship stopped them right in their tracks by blowing a hole in the engineroom”.
“The TOUSKA is under US Treasury Sanctions because of their prior history of illegal activity. We have full custody of the ship, and are seeing what’s on board!”
US Central Command later released footage that it said showed a naval vessel intercepting a cargo ship. The video appeared to show a gun firing in the direction of the vessel.
In a statement carried by Iranian state media, a spokesperson for Iran’s top military headquarters, Khatam al-Anbiya, said the US had, “in violation of the ceasefire opened fire on one of Iran’s commercial vessels in the waters of the Sea of Oman, disabled its navigation system, and boarded it” by “deploying” marines.
“Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran will soon respond to and retaliate for this act of armed piracy by the US Navy,” the statement added.
