Conflicting accounts have emerged after a tense confrontation between the United States and Iran in the Gulf of Oman, as a fragile ceasefire nears its expiry.
US President Donald Trump said the destroyer USS Spruance intercepted an Iranian-flagged cargo vessel, identified as the Touska, after it allegedly attempted to breach a US naval blockade. Trump claimed the ship ignored orders to stop, prompting US forces to fire on it and disable its engine. He said US Marines subsequently boarded and secured the vessel, which he described as being under US Treasury sanctions for prior illegal activity.
Iran has strongly disputed that version of events. According to Mehr News Agency, Iranian Revolutionary Guard naval units responded after US forces opened fire on what it described as a commercial ship. The report claimed Iranian forces forced the US Navy to withdraw from the area, though it did not identify the vessel involved.
The incident comes at a sensitive moment, with a two-week ceasefire between the sides set to expire on Tuesday and no confirmed schedule for further talks.
Iran has indicated it will not return to negotiations while the blockade remains in place, while the US has signalled it intends to maintain the maritime restrictions regardless, raising concerns that tensions could escalate further.
💢 BREAKING | U.S. Navy Fires on Iranian Cargo Ship in Gulf of Oman — Competing Accounts
The U.S. and Iran are offering conflicting accounts of an incident Sunday involving an Iranian vessel in the Gulf of Oman, as the ceasefire teeters on the edge of collapse.
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