On the 19th, US Central Command issued a statement on social media saying that the US military fired on an Iranian cargo ship heading for Iran’s Abbas port, causing it to lose propulsion. US Marines then boarded and took control of the vessel.
According to comprehensive foreign media reports, the statement said that the Iranian-flagged cargo ship “TOUSKA” was sailing through the northern Arabian Sea that day and did not comply with US military instructions. The US guided missile destroyer “Spruance” fired several rounds from its main gun at the ship’s engine room, destroying its propulsion system. Subsequently, soldiers from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit of the US Marine Corps boarded the cargo vessel. The ship is currently still detained by the US.
Videos released by US Central Command on social media showed a US warship issuing warnings to a container cargo vessel, then firing several rounds.
According to the statement, since the US military began enforcing a naval blockade of all Iranian ports in the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman on the 13th, it has forced 25 commercial vessels to turn back or return to Iranian ports.
US President Trump said in a social media post that a US Navy guided-missile destroyer in the Gulf of Oman warned the cargo ship to stop, but it did not comply.
Trump wrote: "Our Navy put a hole in the hull, making them stop on the spot."
Iranian Military: Struck Several US Navy Ships
Early on the 20th, a spokesperson for Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters said that after the US attacked an Iranian container cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman on the 19th, the Iranian armed forces launched multiple drones, striking several US military ships.