U.S. seizes Iranian ship

The U.S. Navy fired on and seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman on Sunday, jolting already fragile ceasefire talks. (cnbc.com) President Donald Trump said the destroyer USS *Spruance* warned the vessel, the *Touska*, to stop before disabling it and sending Marines aboard. U.S. officials described it as the first interception since Washington began a blockade of Iranian ports last week. (cnbc.com) (usnews.com) Iran’s joint military command said it would take “necessary action” after the seizure, and Iranian state media cast the boarding as a ceasefire violation. NBC News reported Tehran was also reconsidering whether to continue a new round of talks. (nbcnews.com) (aljazeera.com) Those talks were already under strain before the boarding. Vice President JD Vance led a U.S. team to Islamabad on April 11 and 12 for the highest-level direct U.S.-Iran contact since diplomatic ties were cut in 1979, but the first round ended without an agreement. (al-monitor.com) (usnews.com) The current truce is a 14-day ceasefire announced on April 8, and it is due to expire on Wednesday, April 22, unless both sides renew it. Gulf News reported that U.S. and Iranian officials said there had been some progress, but “major gaps” remained. (gulfnews.com) (aa.com.tr) The shipping lane at the center of the dispute is the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway linking the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Sea. It handles a large share of the world’s seaborne oil trade, so any blockade, seizure, or threat there quickly ripples into energy markets and naval deployments. (britannica.com) (eia.gov) Washington says the blockade is meant to pressure Iran after weeks of fighting and disputes over the terms of the ceasefire. Tehran says the U.S. action at sea undercuts diplomacy and hardens Iranian demands in Pakistan. (cbsnews.com) (indiatoday.in) For now, the seized ship has become the clearest test of whether the two sides can keep talking before the ceasefire deadline on April 22. (cnn.com)