Washington: Iran’s military vowed a swift response to the US seizure of an Iranian-flagged tanker in the Gulf of Oman, state media reported Sunday.
The military headquarters said the attack and subsequent boarding of the ship by US forces was a violation of the ceasefire and denounced it as piracy, Iran’s state-run broadcaster said.
The US Navy attacked and seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship it said had tried to evade a naval blockade near the Strait of Hormuz Sunday. The US says it fired on the ship and seized it because it had crossed the blockade line after ignoring multiple warnings.
Meanwhile, Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Aragchi has told his Pakistani counterpart that Washington’s demands in negotiations and its threats to Iranian ships and ports mark “clear signs” of America’s disingenuousness.
The country’s top diplomat made the remarks in a phone call to Pakistan’s foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, according to Iranian state media.
This is another indication of how the Washington-Tehran standoff is sharpening as the ceasefire is to expire Wednesday. It could also shake up plans for a new US-Iran round of talks in Islamabad this week.
US President Donald Trump earlier announced that US negotiators would head to Pakistan Monday for another round of talks with Iran.
There has been no comment from Iranian officials on Trump’s announcement.
But Iranian state media, without citing anyone beyond unnamed sources, issued brief reports Sunday suggesting the talks would not happen. The reports came before the US announcement of its seizure of an Iranian-flagged cargo ship near the Strait of Hormuz.
The Iranian judiciary’s Mizan news agency has reported on President Masoud Pezeshkian’s phone conversation with Pakistan’s prime minister earlier in the day. The report says Pezeshkian alleged bullying and unreasonable behaviour by the US during negotiations and the ceasefire.
The report says Pezeshkian warned that the US actions and threatening rhetoric have led to increased suspicion among Iranian officials about the seriousness of the United States and the possibility that it will repeat previous patterns and “betray diplomacy.”
The report did not say whether Iran’s president commented on a second round of talks in Pakistan, or on Trump’s announcement that US forces had seized an Iranian-flagged ship.
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