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“The Iranian crew refused to listen, so our Navy ship stopped them right in their tracks,” Trump wrote.
By United with Israel Staff
Iran signaled Monday that it is stepping back from diplomacy with the United States as tensions escalated sharply at sea following a dramatic U.S. interception of an Iranian vessel.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said Tehran has “no plans” for additional talks with Washington, despite negotiations that were expected to begin as early as Monday.
The statement came hours after President Donald Trump announced that American forces had seized an Iranian vessel in the Gulf of Oman after it attempted to breach a U.S. naval blockade.
According to Trump, the USS Spruance intercepted the ship, identified as the Touska, after its crew ignored warnings.
“The Iranian crew refused to listen, so our Navy ship stopped them right in their tracks,” he wrote, adding that U.S. Marines had taken full custody of the vessel, which he said is under Treasury sanctions.
A spokesman for the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, Ibrahim Zolfaqari, responded, accusing U.S. forces of firing on an Iranian merchant vessel in the Sea of Oman in “violation of the ceasefire,” calling the operation “piracy” and warning that Iran’s armed forces “will respond and retaliate soon.”
The maritime confrontation followed a separate escalation earlier Sunday, when Trump accused Iran of violating a ceasefire by firing on foreign vessels in the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend.
“Iran decided to fire bullets… a total violation of our ceasefire agreement,” he wrote, noting that ships from France and the United Kingdom were targeted.
The incident came after Iran announced it was reimposing the closure of the strategic waterway, despite a U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement tied to regional de-escalation efforts.
Despite the rising tensions, Trump said a second round of negotiations with Iran is still expected to proceed in Islamabad. However, he coupled that with a stark warning, saying that if Tehran rejects the U.S. proposal, Washington is prepared to strike key Iranian infrastructure.
“We’re offering a very fair and reasonable deal,” Trump wrote Sunday morning. “If they don’t take it, the United States is going to knock out every single power plant and every single bridge in Iran.”
The developments leave the prospect of renewed diplomacy uncertain, as both sides exchange threats while tensions continue to build across multiple fronts.
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