Trump says US destroyer hit Iran cargo ship trying to evade blockade

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WASHINGTON – A US destroyer on April 19 fired on and seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman that tried to evade a US naval blockade, President Donald Trump and the US military said on April 19.

Mr Trump posted on the Truth Social platform that after the Iranian vessel, Touska, ignored warnings to stop, the guided missile destroyer USS Spruance “stopped them right in their tracks by blowing a hole in the engine room”.

“Right now, US Marines have custody of the vessel,” the US President added, “and are seeing what’s on board!”

The incident comes with tensions high in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital conduit for the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas that has been virtually closed since the start of the US-Israeli war with Iran seven weeks ago.

Iran briefly reopened the strait on April 17 in recognition of an Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire in Lebanon, but closed it again the following day in response to the US maintaining its blockade on ships travelling to and from Iranian ports.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on April 19 that the Touska was attempting to sail towards the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas.

The Spruance fired several rounds from a five-inch-calibre gun to disable the Iranian ship’s propulsion after directing it “to evacuate its engine room”, CENTCOM said in a post on X, accompanied by a short video showing rounds fired at a vessel in the distance after the warning.

CENTCOM said US forces have directed 25 commercial vessels to turn around or return to an Iranian port since the US blockade began.

Mr Trump said the Touska is under US Treasury sanctions “because of prior history of illegal activity”.

The Touska is listed on the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control website as an Iranian-flagged container under US sanctions.

According to the latest data available from the MarineTraffic website, about six hours before Mr Trump’s announcement the Touska was about 45km off the southern coast of Iran, near the city of Chabahar.

Another ship monitoring site, TankerTrackers, said the Touska had sailed from Malaysia. AFP