US Navy Seizes Iranian Cargo Ship MV Touska; Iran Calls It 'Armed Piracy'

The USS Spruance (DDG-111), a guided-missile destroyer, fired on the engine room of the Iranian-flagged 294-meter cargo vessel MV Touska as it attempted to transit from the Arabian Sea toward Bandar Abbas through the US naval blockade near the Strait of Hormuz. US Marines from the 31st MEU boarded the vessel via helicopter rope descent. Trump posted on Truth Social: 'Today, an Iranian-flagged cargo ship named TOUSKA...tried to get past our Naval blockade, and it did not go well for them.' Iran's Foreign Ministry called the action 'armed piracy' and 'an act of war against a civilian vessel,' while the IRGC Navy vowed Iran would 'soon respond' once the safety of the crew and families is ensured. Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf declared the US seizure was proof that Washington 'cannot be trusted in negotiations.' An IRGC officer broadcast on marine radio: 'We will open it by the order of our leader, Imam Khamenei, not by the tweets of some idiot.' The seizure was cited by Tehran as a key reason for withdrawing from the second round of Islamabad peace talks.