Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Wednesday seized two ships in the Strait of Hormuz, a move that comes after the US military seized an Iranian cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman and a tanker carrying Iranian oil in the Indian Ocean.
The IRGC said the ships were seized for “committing violations” in the Strait of Hormuz. “With the intelligence dominance of the forces, these vessels were identified and stopped in order to uphold the rights of the noble Iranian nation in the Strait of Hormuz,” the IRGC Navy said.
The ships were identified as the MSC Francesca, a Panamanian-flagged container ship, and the Epaminondas, another container ship sailing under a Liberian flag. The IRGC claimed that the Francesca had ties to Israel. A third vessel was reportedly attacked by the IRGC but not seized.
The seizures came after President Trump declared he was extending the ceasefire with Iran but that he would maintain the blockade on Iranian ports, which Iranian officials say is a ceasefire violation since a blockade is an act of war. Iran has maintained that it will not hold further peace talks with the US until the blockade is lifted.
While extending the ceasefire, Trump continues to make threats against Iran. In a post on Truth Social on Tuesday night, the US president insisted that Iran wants the Strait of Hormuz to be open and issued a threat to Iran’s leaders.
“Iran doesn’t want the Strait of Hormuz closed, they want it open so they can make $500 Million Dollars a day (which is, therefore, what they are losing if it is closed!). They only say they want it closed because I have it totally BLOCKADED (CLOSED!), so they merely want to ‘save face,’” he wrote.
“People approached me four days ago, saying, “Sir, Iran wants to open up the Strait, immediately.” But if we do that, there can never be a Deal with Iran, unless we blow up the rest of their Country, their leaders included!” Trump added.
According to a report from The Financial Times, at least 34 ships with links to Iran have made it through the US blockade, including 19 tankers that exited the Persian Gulf and 15 that entered the Gulf from the Arabian Sea.