Iran responded to the US capture of one of its tankers close to the Strait of Hormuz earlier this week by capturing two foreign commercial vessels on Wednesday and moving them to its coast. Iran called the US attack on its ship by the US an act of \u201cpiracy\u201d and, on Wednesday, said the two tankers it had seized had violated maritime regulations, according to Iranian state media.<\/p>\n
Reporting from Tehran, Al Jazeera\u2019s Tohid Asadi said: \u201cThis is in line with what we heard from the IRGC [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] previously, saying that any passage of ships, vessels or oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz should be with the permission and coordination of the IRGC.\u201d<\/p>\n list of 3 items<\/span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n He said the seizure reflected Iran\u2019s continuing strategy to impose control and authority over maritime traffic through the chokepoint, adding that Iranian officials were now discussing charges and transit fees for vessels using the route.<\/p>\n On Monday, the US military fired on and then seized the Iranian-flagged container ship Touska close to the Strait of Hormuz in the northern Arabian Sea as it was en route to the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas. The US military\u2019s Central Command (CENTCOM) and President Donald Trump said the Touska had refused to follow US orders to withdraw from its planned passage through the Strait of Hormuz. The seizure came after the US imposed a naval blockade on all Iranian ports on April 13.<\/p>\n Iran called Washington\u2019s capture of the vessel \u201can act of piracy\u201d.<\/p>\n This is not the first time the Trump administration has been accused of piracy. Last year, Venezuela also made the allegation when the US seized sanctioned oil tankers off its coast.<\/p>\n But is this the case?<\/p>\n Here\u2019s what we know about US strikes on Iranian ships:<\/p>\n The US military enforced its naval blockade on Iranian ports and the Strait of Hormuz in response to Iran\u2019s block on most vessels coming through the narrow waterway. Since the war began, Iran has allowed only a few ships belonging to nations that have struck deals with Tehran to pass.<\/p>\n The US military said it would bar any ships belonging to Iran or travelling to or from Iranian ports from passing through the strait.<\/p>\n On Monday, according to the US military, the Touska tried to defy the US blockade by crossing from the Arabian Sea via the Gulf of Oman through the Strait of Hormuz towards Bandar Abbas.<\/p>\n CENTCOM reported: \u201cAmerican forces issued multiple warnings and informed the Iranian-flagged vessel it was in violation of the US blockade.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAfter Touska\u2019s crew failed to comply with repeated warnings over a six-hour period, Spruance directed the vessel to evacuate its engine room\u201d before the US destroyer fired at the Iranian ship, the CENTCOM statement said.<\/p>\n Subsequently, US Marines from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit boarded the Touska and captured the ship.<\/p>\n On Tuesday, the Pentagon said US forces had detained another oil tanker sanctioned for transporting Iranian crude oil as it sailed in the Bay of Bengal, which links India and Southeast Asia.<\/p>\n In a post on social media, the Pentagon said US forces \u201cconducted a right-of-visit maritime interdiction\u201d of the M\/T Tifani \u201cwithout incident\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cAs we have made clear, we will pursue global maritime enforcement efforts to disrupt illicit networks and interdict sanctioned vessels providing material support to Iran \u2013 anywhere they operate.\u2028International waters are not a refuge for sanctioned vessels,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n Washington has been targeting Iranian ships throughout the war on Iran, which began when the US and Israel launched air strikes on Tehran on February 28.<\/p>\n On March 4, a US submarine sank the Iranian warship IRIS Dena with a torpedo in international waters off the coast of Sri Lanka. The ship and its crew were returning home from Visakhapatnam on India\u2019s east coast after participating in naval exercises. US forces have been criticised for leaving the ship to sink and not making efforts to rescue survivors afterwards.<\/p>\n Sri Lanka\u2019s navy, which mounted a rescue effort, reported that 32 Iranian sailors were rescued, 87 bodies were recovered and 61 of the crew remain missing.<\/p>\n US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the strike on the Iranian warship was the \u201cfirst such attack on an enemy since World War II\u201d.<\/p>\n After the US sinking of the IRIS Dena, Tehran responded with drone and missile attacks on Israel and US military assets and infrastructure in Gulf countries, causing multiple deaths.<\/p>\n After the recent capture of the tankers by the US, Iran called Washington\u2019s actions \u201cpiracy\u201d and threatened to strike back.<\/p>\n \u201cWe warn that the armed \u2060forces of the Islamic \u2060Republic of Iran will \u2060soon respond and retaliate against this armed piracy by \u200cthe US military,\u201d a spokesperson for Khatam al-Anbiya, Iran\u2019s joint military command, said hours after the capture of the Touska.<\/p>\n On Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Washington\u2019s naval blockade constituted a breach of the two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran. \u201cStriking a commercial vessel and taking its crew hostage is an even greater violation [of the ceasefire],\u201d he said.<\/p>\n A spokesperson for Tehran\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs told state television on Tuesday that Iran had yet \u2060to decide whether to attend further talks with the US. He described the boarding of the tanker as well as the earlier seizure of the cargo ship as \u201cpiracy at sea and state terrorism\u201d.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tIf the US keeps flexing its maritime muscle at the edges of conventional legal frameworks, some might say the only thing missing is an eye patch and a parrot\t\t\t<\/p>\nRecommended Stories <\/h2>\n
What happened to the Touska?<\/h2>\n
![\"INTERACTIVE](\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/INTERACTIVE-US-naval-blockade-of-Irans-ports-APRIL-13-2026-1776092129.png?quality=80\")
What other Iranian ships has the US targeted?<\/h2>\n
How has Iran responded?<\/h2>\n
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