President Donald Trump said Sunday the U.S. “stopped them right in their tracks by blowing a hole in the engineroom” of an Iranian-flagged cargo ship before seizing the vessel — marking the first known use of force under Washington’s naval blockade as Tehran threatens retaliation and critical ceasefire talks hang in the balance.
In a Truth Social post Sunday afternoon, Trump said the U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Spruance intercepted the vessel, identified as the Touska, in the Gulf of Oman after it attempted to breach the blockade, adding that “U.S. Marines have custody of the vessel” and are “seeing what’s on board.”
Video released Sunday evening by U.S. Central Command confirmed the encounter, showing repeated warnings issued over several hours, including an audio command ordering, “Vacate your engine room… we are prepared to subject you to disabling fire,” before the destroyer fired into the vessel’s engine compartment.
CENTCOM said the Touska was warned multiple times over a six-hour period while sailing toward Iran’s Bandar Abbas port before U.S. forces disabled its propulsion using the destroyer’s 5-inch MK 45 gun, after which Marines from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit boarded and secured the vessel, which remains in U.S. custody.
The seizure marks the first known forcible interdiction since the blockade went into effect April 13, following the collapse of Pakistan-mediated talks, which U.S. officials said had already forced at least 25 vessels to turn back without incident.
Trump had projected confidence earlier Sunday, telling Axios in a morning call that “the concept of the deal is done” and that there was a “very good chance” an agreement could be completed, with U.S. negotiators expected to travel to Islamabad for another round of talks ahead of the ceasefire deadline.
U.S. officials said Vice President JD Vance is expected to travel to Islamabad to lead the next round of talks alongside envoy Steve Witkoff and senior adviser Jared Kushner, after earlier mixed signals about his participation, ahead of a critical round of negotiations as the ceasefire deadline looms.
Iran quickly undercut that timeline.
Iranian state media reported Sunday there were “no plans” to participate in the next round of talks, while the official IRNA news agency cited what it described as Washington’s “unreasonable and unrealistic demands,” “constant contradictions,” and continued enforcement of the naval blockade as reasons there was “no clear prospect for fruitful negotiations.”
The conflicting signals follow a volatile 48 hours in which Trump said Friday a deal could be reached “within a day or two,” only for Iran to reimpose restrictions on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and resume hostile actions against commercial vessels as the United States refused to lift the blockade.
Tehran responded angrily to Sunday’s seizure.
Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters accused the United States of “armed piracy” and warned that Iranian forces would “soon respond and retaliate” for the strike and boarding of the vessel, according to statements carried by IRGC-linked outlets.
State-affiliated media also claimed Iranian forces launched drone attacks against U.S. naval assets in response — assertions that have not been independently verified.
Iranian officials have increasingly framed the blockade itself as a violation of the ceasefire, with President Masoud Pezeshkian warning during a Sunday call with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif that U.S. actions suggest Washington may seek to “betray diplomacy.”
Pakistan, which has served as a mediator between the two sides, held back-to-back calls Sunday with senior Iranian officials, reiterating its role as a facilitator while attempting to bridge widening gaps ahead of the ceasefire deadline.
At issue in the talks are core U.S. demands that Iran reopen the Strait of Hormuz, halt uranium enrichment, and hand over its stockpile of highly enriched uranium — conditions Tehran has rejected as “nonstarters.”
Meanwhile, U.S. officials are preparing to expand enforcement.
A Wall Street Journal report Saturday said the U.S. military is preparing to board and seize additional Iran-linked vessels in international waters as part of a broader pressure campaign targeting Tehran’s oil exports and supply networks.
Trump has paired that pressure with explicit warnings, stating Sunday that if Iran does not accept a deal, the United States could target “every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge” in the country.
The seizure of the Touska now places the fragile ceasefire — set to expire midweek — under renewed strain, with negotiations uncertain and both sides signaling readiness to escalate.
Joshua Klein is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.
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