Chicago – April 19, 2026
President Donald Trump said U.S. forces seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship after it tried to evade a naval blockade near the Strait of Hormuz, marking a sharp escalation in tensions at a vital global shipping route.
Trump said the vessel, identified as Touska, was warned by a U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer in the Gulf of Oman to stop, but the crew refused to comply. He said the Navy then “stopped them right in their tracks by blowing a hole in the engineroom,” and that U.S. Marines now have the ship in custody while they inspect the cargo.
The reported seizure comes as the U.S. has stepped up maritime pressure on Iran amid rising regional tensions and efforts to restrict shipping linked to Iranian ports. The Strait of Hormuz remains one of the world’s most sensitive energy chokepoints, carrying a significant share of global oil trade. Iran had not publicly confirmed the incident by Sunday evening.
