On April 20, according to reports from CNN, Al Jazeera, and other foreign media outlets, the US Central Command stated on April 19 that a US guided-missile destroyer fired “several shells” at an Iranian cargo ship attempting to break through its naval blockade. Iran confirmed that the US military fired on an Iranian merchant ship.
According to reports, the US Central Command posted on social media on April 19 that a US guided-missile destroyer intercepted an Iranian cargo ship transiting the North Arabian Sea, bound for the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas, and fired its guns into the engine room, disabling its propulsion. US Marines subsequently boarded and took control of the cargo ship.
On the same day, US President Trump posted on social media that the US military had forcefully intercepted and taken control of an Iranian cargo ship attempting to break through the US naval blockade in the Gulf of Oman.
Trump stated that the cargo ship, named “TOUSKA,” flew the Iranian flag, was nearly 900 feet (274 meters) long, and weighed the equivalent of an aircraft carrier. The US Navy destroyer USS Spruance intercepted a cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman, demanding it stop, but the ship’s crew refused to comply. The US ship reportedly “blew a hole in the ship’s engine room,” forcing it to stop. US Marines have now taken control of the vessel.
Meanwhile, Al Jazeera, citing Iran’s Mehr News Agency, reported that US forces deployed in the waters surrounding the Gulf of Oman opened fire on an Iranian merchant ship, attempting to force it to return to Iranian territorial waters. The Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy arrived promptly and quickly supported the Iranian merchant ship, forcing the US forces to withdraw and “flee” the area.
The report did not mention the name of the Iranian merchant ship.
Furthermore, on the 20th local time, the Khatham Anbia Central Command of the Iranian Armed Forces issued a statement claiming that the United States violated the ceasefire agreement by opening fire on an Iranian merchant ship in the Gulf of Oman and sending multiple soldiers onto the deck, disabling the ship’s navigation system and committing “maritime robbery.”
The statement indicated that the Iranian armed forces would soon respond to and retaliate against this act of piracy and armed robbery by the US military.
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