Iran Warns of Retaliation After US Fires on Merchant Vessel Amid Ceasefire Row

ISLAMABAD: Iranian military command has warned of retaliation against American targets in the region, accusing the U.S. of violating a ceasefire agreement by opening fire on an Iranian merchant vessel.

The warning came after the US Navy fired at an Iranian merchant Ship in the Gulf of Oman. Khatam al-Anbiya Central Command, which oversees Iran’s military operations, claimed that the U.S. military violated the ceasefire by opening fire on an Iranian merchant vessel in the Gulf of Oman on the same day.

Iranian state media reported that the merchant vessel was en route from China to Iran a day ago.

A spokesperson for Khatam al-Anbiya warned through Iranian state media, “We warn that the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran will soon respond to and retaliate against this ‘armed pirate act’ by the U.S. military.”

U.S. President Donald Trump also stated that the U.S. had intercepted an Iranian cargo ship attempting to breach the maritime blockade against Iran and brought it under American control.

Trump wrote on the social media platform Truth Social that day, “Today, an Iranian cargo ship named Touska, approximately 900 feet (about 275 meters) long and weighing as much as an aircraft carrier, attempted to breach our maritime blockade but failed.”

“The U.S. Navy’s guided-missile destroyer Spruance intercepted Touska in the Gulf of Oman and issued a legitimate warning to stop, but the Iranian crew did not comply. Our naval vessel then halted the ship by creating a hole in its engine room.”

The U.S. has previously forced around 20 Iranian vessels attempting to sail from Iranian ports and breach the U.S. blockade to turn back, but this is the first known case where force was used, according to the U.S. daily Wall Street Journal (WS

There is a highly tense military situation that exists in the Persian Gulf at the moment, while the prospects of resumption of US-Iran talks in Islamabad appear extremely uncertain. Observers believe that Iran’s reluctance to join the talks reflects its attempt to gain maximum leverage from the diplomatic process.

Iran’s semi-official Tasnim News Agency reports that an Iranian-flagged cargo ship, the Shoja 2, is currently transiting the Strait of Hormuz despite the US-announced blockade.

The vessel departed from the Shahid Rajaee Port near Bandar Abbas and is continuing its route towards the Port of Kandla in India, according to the report. The marine tracking data from MarineTraffic, a maritime analytics provider, shows the ship currently navigating in the strait. According to MarineTraffic, the Shoja 2 is bound for India.

Pakistani government officials appear extremely certain that they would bring Iran to the negotiating table on Monday in Islamabad in the second round of Islamabad talks.