Updated on: Apr 20, 2026 7:46:41 AM IST
US navy guided missile destroyer USS Spruance intercepted the Iranian vessel in the Gulf of Oman.
US Iran war LIVE updates: US President Donald Trump on Sunday (local time) said that the American forces seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship — Touska — which was trying to breach the US naval blockade in the Strait of Hormuz. Trump said that the US navy guided missile destroyer USS Spruance intercepted the Iranian vessel in the Gulf of Oman, and “gave them fair warning to stop”. However, when they didn’t listen, the President said, the American navy ship stopped them by “blowing a hole in the engineroom”. Trump said the US forces have custody of the vessel.
In immediate response to the US strike, Iranian forces reportedly hit back with drone attacks, PressTV reported.
Soon after, a spokesperson for Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters decried the US attack as “a flagrant act of aggression”. Lieutenant-Colonel Ebrahim Zolfaghari warned that the Islamic Republic “will soon respond to this armed piracy and retaliation of the US army”.
What about peace talks?
Trump said the US team of negotiators will head to Pakistan on Monday for talks with Iran, sparking hopes for an extension of a ceasefire that is set to expire on Wednesday.
However, Iranian officials are not planning to attend the talks with the US, reported state media.
“There are currently no plans to participate in the next round of Iran-US talks,” said Iranian sources, according to state broadcaster IRIB.
Later, Iran’s state-run IRNA also announced on X, “Iran stated that its absence from the second round of talks stems from what it called Washington’s excessive demands, unrealistic expectations, constant shifts in stance, repeated contradictions, and the ongoing naval blockade, which it considers a breach of the ceasefire.”
Strait of Hormuz status
Over 20 vessels passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, according to data from shipping analytics firm Kpler. This is the highest number of ships crossing the waterway since March 1.
Five of the ships that transited on Saturday carried loaded cargoes from Iran, with products ranging from oil to metal. Three of them are liquefied petroleum gas carriers, with one each heading to China and India.
Curbs on Iran oil come ‘with a price’, says Tehran
Iranian vice president Mohammad Reza Aref said that global fuel prices could stabilise only if economic and military pressures on Iranian oil exports were stopped.
“One cannot restrict Iran’s oil exports while expecting free security for others,” Aref wrote in a post on X. “The choice is clear: either a free oil market for all, or the risk of significant costs for everyone,” he added.
Oil prices on Sunday surged in early trading amid a standoff between Iran and the US.
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In immediate response to the US strike, Iranian forces reportedly hit back with drone attacks, PressTV reported.
Soon after, a spokesperson for Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters decried the US attack as “a flagrant act of aggression”. Lieutenant-Colonel Ebrahim Zolfaghari warned that the Islamic Republic “will soon respond to this armed piracy and retaliation of the US army”.
What about peace talks?
Trump said the US team of negotiators will head to Pakistan on Monday for talks with Iran, sparking hopes for an extension of a ceasefire that is set to expire on Wednesday.
However, Iranian officials are not planning to attend the talks with the US, reported state media.
“There are currently no plans to participate in the next round of Iran-US talks,” said Iranian sources, according to state broadcaster IRIB.
Later, Iran’s state-run IRNA also announced on X, “Iran stated that its absence from the second round of talks stems from what it called Washington’s excessive demands, unrealistic expectations, constant shifts in stance, repeated contradictions, and the ongoing naval blockade, which it considers a breach of the ceasefire.”
Strait of Hormuz status
Over 20 vessels passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, according to data from shipping analytics firm Kpler. This is the highest number of ships crossing the waterway since March 1.
Five of the ships that transited on Saturday carried loaded cargoes from Iran, with products ranging from oil to metal. Three of them are liquefied petroleum gas carriers, with one each heading to China and India.
Curbs on Iran oil come ‘with a price’, says Tehran
Iranian vice president Mohammad Reza Aref said that global fuel prices could stabilise only if economic and military pressures on Iranian oil exports were stopped.
“One cannot restrict Iran’s oil exports while expecting free security for others,” Aref wrote in a post on X. “The choice is clear: either a free oil market for all, or the risk of significant costs for everyone,” he added.
Oil prices on Sunday surged in early trading amid a standoff between Iran and the US.
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Apr 20, 2026 7:46:41 AM IST
US Iran war LIVE updates: US military strike on alleged drug boat kills 3 in Caribbean Sea
US Iran war LIVE updates: The U.S. military said it launched another strike on a boat accused of ferrying drugs in the Caribbean Sea, killing three people Sunday.
The Trump administration’s campaign of blowing up alleged drug-trafficking vessels in Latin American waters has persisted since early September and killed at least 181 people in total. Other strikes have taken place in the eastern Pacific Ocean.
Despite the Iran war, the series of strikes have ramped up again in the past week or so, showing that the administration’s aggressive measures to stop what it calls “narcoterrorism” in the Western Hemisphere are not letting up. The military has not provided evidence that any of the vessels were carrying drugs.
The attacks began as the U.S. built up its largest military presence in the region in generations and came months ahead of the raid in January that captured then-Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. He was brought to New York to face drug trafficking charges and has pleaded not guilty. (AP)
Apr 20, 2026 7:37:16 AM IST
US Iran war LIVE updates: Tehran says restrictions on Iranian oil come with a price
US Iran war LIVE updates: Iran’s first vice president, Mohammad Reza Aref, said global fuel prices could stabilise only if economic and military pressures on Iranian oil exports end.
“One cannot restrict Iran’s oil exports while expecting free security for others,” Aref wrote on X. “The choice is clear: either a free oil market for all, or the risk of significant costs for everyone.”
Oil prices rose in early trading Sunday as a standoff between Iran and the US prevented tankers from using the Strait of Hormuz, the Persian Gulf waterway that is crucial to global energy supplies.
The price of US crude oil increased 6.4 per cent to USD 87.88 per barrel after trading resumed on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. The price of Brent crude, the international standard, climbed 6.5 per cent to USD 96.25 per barrel. (AP)
Apr 20, 2026 7:33:42 AM IST
US Iran war LIVE updates: Iranian forces launch drones toward US warships after attack on commercial ship in Sea of Oman
US Iran war LIVE updates: Iranian forces launched drones towards US warships following an attack on an Iranian commercial vessel in the Sea of Oman, Al Jazeera reported, citing Iranian media.
Meanwhile, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has claimed that US forces stationed in the Sea of Oman were forced to retreat after firing at an Iranian merchant vessel, Press TV reported.
Citing Mehr news agency, Press TV reported that US forces operating in the region targeted an Iranian merchant ship in an attempt to compel it to return to Iranian territorial waters.
According to the report, the incident took place amid heightened maritime tensions involving the Strait of Hormuz and movement of international shipping vessels. (ANI)
Apr 20, 2026 7:29:47 AM IST
US Iran war LIVE updates: Trump says US negotiators will head to Pak on Monday
US Iran war LIVE updates: President Donald Trump said that his negotiators will head to Pakistan on Monday for talks with Iran.
At first, Trump said “no” to vice president JD Vance going to the talks in at least two interviews. However, the White House later told another news channel that Vance “will attend” the talks in Pakistan along Trump’s special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
Apr 20, 2026 7:26:16 AM IST
US Iran war LIVE updates: Tehran slams US’s ‘flagrant’ attack on Iranian vessel
US Iran war LIVE updates: Iran slammed the United States for the “flagrant act of aggression” it carried out on an Iranian merchant vessel in the Gulf of Oman, saying that US deployed “its terrorist marines onto the ship’s deck and disabled its navigation systems”.
Lieutenant-Colonel Ebrahim Zolfaghari, spokesperson for the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, said, “The aggressor United States violated the ceasefire and committed maritime piracy by firing at an Iranian merchant ship in the waters of the Sea of Oman and landing a number of its terrorist marines on the deck of the vessel, disabling its navigation system.”
“We warn that the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran will soon respond to this armed piracy and retaliation by the US army,” PressTV cited him as saying.
Apr 20, 2026 7:18:05 AM IST
US Iran war LIVE updates: Trump says Iranian-flagged ship, trying to breach US blockade, seized
US Iran war LIVE updates: An Iranian-flagged cargo ship was intercepted and subsequently seized in the Gulf of Oman after it tried to get past the naval blockade imposed by the US near the Strait of Hormuz, President Donald Trump said on Monday. Subsequently, Iran reportedly vowed a swift response against what it called “armed piracy”.
The US President said that that USS Spruance, a guided missile destroyer gave the vessel a “fair warning” to stop but when the Iranian crew didn’t listen, the ship stopped them by “blowing a hole in the engine room.
According to the US President, the Iranian ship, Touska, was nearly 900 feet long and weighed almost “as much as an aircraft carrier”. Following the interception, Touska is now under the US Marines custody.
“The TOUSKA is under US Treasury Sanctions because of their prior history of illegal activity. We have full custody of the ship, and are seeing what’s on board!,” Trump said in a Truth Social Post.
