US-Iran Tensions Escalate with Mutual Attacks at Sea
Tensions between the US and Iran show no signs of abating at the end of the ceasefire agreement. The US and Iran have exchanged attacks at sea.
US forces fired upon and seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship. The US attack was reportedly due to the Iranian ship attempting to pass through the US Navy blockade in the Gulf of Oman.
“Today, an Iranian-flagged cargo ship named Touska, nearly 900 feet long and weighing almost as much as an aircraft carrier, tried to pass through our naval blockade, and it did not go well for them,” wrote US President Donald Trump in a post on Truth Social, as reported by CNN and AFP on Monday (20/4/2026).
The US Navy destroyer USS Spruance intercepted the Iranian ship in the Gulf of Oman and issued a warning to stop. Trump said the Iranian crew refused to listen.
“So our naval ship stopped them right in their tracks by blowing a hole in the engine room. Currently, US Marines have secured the vessel,” Trump stated.
Trump’s announcement came as he accused Iran of violating the current ceasefire agreement with its actions in this vital waterway route. Tehran has once again blocked the route for most ships through the strait, citing US “breaches of trust”.
Iran briefly reopened the strait on Friday in recognition of the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire in Lebanon but closed it again the next day in response to the ongoing US blockade of ships sailing to and from Iranian ports.
Trump said the Iranian ship was under sanctions from the US Department of the Treasury “due to a history of previous illegal activities.” Touska is listed on the website of the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control as an Iranian-flagged container under US sanctions.
Iran Attacks US Ships
Iranian forces immediately launched a barrage of drone attacks against several US ships on Sunday (19/4) local time.
As reported by Anadolu Agency and TRT World on Monday (20/4/2026), the drone attacks were Tehran’s retaliation for the shooting and seizure carried out by Washington against the cargo ship.
Iran’s Tasnim News Agency reported that after US forces boarded the Touska container ship in the Gulf of Oman waters, Iranian drones were launched against American ships.
Tasnim did not specify whether Tehran’s drone attack targets were military or commercial ships.
Iran Calls US Attack a Ceasefire Violation
Tehran described the US attack on Touska as a violation of the two-week ceasefire, mediated by Pakistan and in effect since it was announced on 7 April.
Iran’s other news agency, Fars News Agency, reported that the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, Iran’s central military command, accused US forces of targeting the container ship, disabling its navigation system, and boarding it after what it described as a ceasefire violation.
Ship tracking data shows the Touska container ship departed from Port Klang in Malaysia on 12 April.
Iranian military spokesperson Ebrahim Zolfaghari said US forces opened fire on the Iranian-flagged ship before boarding it.
“The aggressive United States, by violating the ceasefire and engaging in maritime piracy, attacked one of Iran’s ships after disabling its navigation system,” he criticised.
He added that US forces boarded the cargo ship after deploying “a number of terrorist Marines” onto it.
“We warn that Iranian military forces will soon respond and retaliate against this armed hijacking by the US military,” he emphasised.