President Trump says U.S. forces seized Iranian-flagged cargo ship attempting to breach U.S. naval blockade
(NBC, KYMA) - President Donald Trump said Sunday U.S. forces hit and seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship that allegedly attempted to breach a U.S. naval blockade.
The incident underscores how fragile the ceasefire remains, with both sides accusing the other of violations.
President Trump says the U.S. Navy fired on, seized, and then boarded an Iranian-flagged cargo ship. He says it attempted to evade the U.S. blockade in the Gulf of Oman.
Trump announced the U.S. has full custody of the ship, and blew a hole in the engine room after giving it fair warning to stop.
"You need to get Iran back to the place that they agreed to in 2015, 16, that they would never seek to acquire, develop nuclear weapons. They agreed to that Donald Trump tore that up," said Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA).
Iran imposed its own restrictions and traffic remained at a near standstill Sunday. Iran allegedly opened fire on two Indian-flagged ships over the weekend.
During an interview with Kristen Welker on Meet the Press Sunday, Mike Waltz, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, was asked whether the U.S. Navy is in charge of the Strait of Hormuz, and if not, who specifically is in charge right now, and Ambassador Waltz said:
"The Strait of Hormuz is an international waterway unlike what the Iranians are trying to claim. They've even moved the goal posts and are now claiming that it's a waterway of theirs which is an absolute violation of international law. Ultimately, it's the U.S. Navy and President Trump that decide what comes in and what comes out."
If Iran and the U.S. don't strike a deal, the president threatened to wipe out civilian infrastructure.
"Everything's on the table," Waltz expressed.
Amid the major escalation, U.S. negotiators plan to head to Pakistan Monday, but it appears Iran hasn't agreed to show up.
On Sunday, State News reported that any confirmation of a second round of negotiations in Islamabad is not true.
Meanwhile, a separate ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon is still holding as of now.
In addition, new polling by NBC News shows 37% of American adults approve of the president's performance, two-thirds say they do not approve of Trump's handling of the war, and the president has a similar level of support for his handling of cost of living.
