The U.S. Navy’s forcible seizure of an Iranian-flagged cargo ships threw doubt on an announcement from President Donald Trump that U.S. negotiators will head to Pakistan on Monday for another round of talks with Iran.
Trump’s announcement Sunday had raised hopes of extending a fragile ceasefire set to expire by Wednesday, but Iran has not confirmed it will attend.
Trump also said the U.S. forcibly seized the cargo ship that tried to circumvent a naval blockade near the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, the first such interception since the blockade of Iranian ports began last week.
He said a U.S. Navy guided missile destroyer in the Gulf of Oman “stopped them right in their tracks by blowing a hole in the engineroom” and that U.S. Marines had custody of the vessel, named Touska, and were “seeing what’s on board!”
Iran’s joint military command said Tehran will respond soon and called the U.S. seizure an act of piracy.
The escalating standoff threatened to deepen the energy crisis roiling the global economy and push the two countries toward renewed fighting that has killed at least 3,000 people in Iran, nearly 2,300 in Lebanon, 23 civilians and 15 soldiers in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states. Thirteen U.S. service members have also been killed.
Here is the latest:
Iran says it hangs 2 convicts claimed by opposition group
Iran said Monday it hanged two men it accused of setting fire to buildings on behalf of the Israeli intelligence service Mossad.
An Iranian exiled opposition group earlier claimed the men as members and alleged their charges stemmed from events that happened after they already had been detained.
The Mizan news agency of Iran’s judiciary identified the men hanged as Mohammad Masoum Shahi and Hamed Validi.
The Mujahedeen-e-Khalq opposition group identified Shahi as Nima Shahi.
The MEK said the men had been “subjected to interrogation and torture” and convicted over an incident that happened before their detention.
This brings to eight the total number of MEK members executed since the start of the war.
Activists and rights groups say Iran routinely holds closed-door trials in which defendants are unable to challenge the accusations they face.
Hezbollah claims attack destroyed Israeli tanks
Hezbollah said it detonated explosives Sunday afternoon in an attack against Israeli forces in southern Lebanon.
The group said in a statement Monday that bombs planted by Hezbollah fighters exploded and destroyed four tanks in a convoy of eight tanks that was passing the village of Deir Siryan.
It was the first claim of an attack by Hezbollah since a 10-day ceasefire went into effect at midnight Thursday.
The Israeli military did not immediately comment.
Tehran says restrictions on Iranian oil come with a price
Iran’s first vice president, Mohammad Reza Aref, says global fuel prices could stabilize 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.”
