President Donald Trump announced "major combat operations" against Iran on Feb. 28, with massive joint U.S.-Israeli strikes targeting military, government and infrastructure sites.
Following the announcement of a two-week ceasefire, initial U.S.-Iran talks in Pakistan earlier this month failed to reach a peace deal. The original ceasefire is set to expire on April 22.
Trump said on Sunday that U.S. negotiators would return to Islamabad on Monday for a new round of talks. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Vice President JD Vance would accompany special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law, to Islamabad.
But Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Monday that Tehran has "no plans" to participate.
Marines from USS Tripoli seized Iranian vessel, CENTCOM says
U.S. Central Command posted a video of the seizure of the Iran-flagged M/V Touska container ship, which it said was seized by helicopter-borne Marines on Sunday.
CENTCOM said the vessel was first disabled by fire from the guided-missile destroyer USS Spruance after the M/V Touska "failed to comply with repeated warnings from U.S. forces over a six-hour period."
The Marines that seized the Iranian vessel were operating from the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli, CENTCOM said.
-ABC News' Camilla Alcini
Apr 19, 2026, 6:44 PM EDT
Iran vows to retaliate after US seizes Iranian cargo ship: State media
The Iranian Military Headquarters said that the U.S. has broken the ceasefire after President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. Navy had attacked and seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman.
The Iranian military claimed the move "violated the ceasefire and maritime piracy," according to the statement published on the Iranian state news outlet FARS.
"The aggressor America violated the ceasefire and maritime piracy by firing at an Iranian merchant ship in the waters of the Sea of Oman, disabling its navigation system, and landing a number of its terrorist marines on the deck of the vessel," the statement read.
The Iranian military said it would "soon respond and retaliate against this armed piracy by the US military."
Apr 19, 2026, 4:18 PM EDT
Trump says US Navy attacked and seized Iranian-flagged cargo ship
President Donald Trump said in a post on his social media platform Sunday afternoon that the U.S. Navy had attacked an Iranian-flagged cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman and that U.S. Marines have taken custody of the vessel.
“Today, an Iranian-flagged cargo ship named TOUSKA, nearly 900 feet long and weighing almost as much as an aircraft carrier, tried to get past our Naval Blockade, and it did not go well for them,” Trump said in the post.
U.S. Central Command confirmed that the destroyer USS Spruance intercepted the Touska as it transited the North Arabian Sea towards the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas.
After repeated warnings over a six-hour timespan, the destroyer warned the Touska’s crew to vacate the engine room and fired several rounds at that location from its five-inch gun, according to CENTCOM.
Marines later boarded the ship, and it remains in U.S. custody, CENTCOM said.
U.S. Marines from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit and sailors assigned to amphibious transport dock ship USS New Orleans support blockade operations against Iran, April 16, 2026.
U.S. Central Command
It appears to be the first instance of the U.S. attacking and seizing a merchant vessel since it instituted the blockade of Iranian ports.
The president further wrote that "U.S. Marines have custody of the vessel," which he said is "under U.S. Treasury Sanctions because of their prior history of illegal activity. We have full custody of the ship, and are seeing what’s on board!"
The move comes after Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine warned that the U.S. would actively enforce the blockade on Iranian-flagged vessels around the globe.
"In addition to this blockade, the joint force, through operations and activities in other areas of responsibility, like the Pacific area of responsibility under the command of Admiral Paparo, will actively pursue any Iranian-flagged vessel or any vessel attempting to provide material support to Iran. This includes Dark Fleet vessels carrying Iranian oil," Caine said in a Pentagon press conference Thursday.
-ABC News' Nicholas Kerr
Apr 19, 2026, 3:55 PM EDT
Trump says 'the concept of' a peace deal with Iran is done
As Tehran asserts that it will not participate in a second round of in-person talks with U.S. negotiators in Islamabad, Pakistan, on Monday unless the naval blockade on Iranian ports is lifted, President Donald Trump is claiming that a peace deal is almost complete.
"I feel fine about it. The concept of the deal is done. I think we have a very good chance to get it completed," Trump told Axios in an interview on Sunday.
The president offered no details regarding what was in the deal.
President Donald Trump steps off of Air Force One upon arrival at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix, Arizona, on April 17, 2026.
Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images
Trump's comments to Axios were published just hours after he threatened to bomb all of Iran's power plants and bridges if the Iranians don't sign the deal.
“If the deal isn’t done, the deal that we made, then I’m going to take out their bridges and their power plants," Trump told Fox News in a separate interview. “If they don’t sign this thing, the whole country is going to get blown up.”
