Ships and boats in the Strait of Hormuz, Musandam, Oman, Wednesday / Reuters-Yonhap
Iran seized two ships in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, tightening its grip on the strategic waterway, after U.S. President Donald Trump called off attacks indefinitely with no sign of peace talks restarting.
Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency said the Revolutionary Guards had seized two vessels for maritime violations and escorted them to Iranian shores. It was the first time Iran has seized ships since the beginning of the war at the end of February.
Earlier, a British maritime security agency reported three ships had come under fire.
Trump said in a statement on social media late on Tuesday that the U.S. had agreed to a request by Pakistani mediators "to hold our Attack on the Country of Iran until such time as their leaders and representatives can come up with a unified proposal ... and discussions are concluded, one way or the other."
But even as he announced what appeared to be a unilateral ceasefire extension, Trump also said he would continue the U.S. Navy's blockade of Iran's trade by sea. The United States fired on and seized an Iranian cargo vessel on Saturday and boarded a huge Iranian oil tanker on Tuesday in the Indian Ocean.
Iran considers the U.S. blockade an act of war and has said it will not lift its closure of the strait, which has caused a global energy crisis, as long as the U.S. blockade continues.
Pakistan, which has acted as a mediator, was still trying to bring the warring sides together for negotiations after both failed to show up for last-ditch talks on Tuesday before the two-week-old ceasefire was due to expire.
A luxury hotel in Islamabad had been cleared out for the talks, but Iran never publicly accepted the invitation and the U.S. delegation led by Vice President JD Vance never left Washington. The hotel was still shut on Wednesday but a wider security perimeter had been loosened.
"We had prepared everything. We were all prepared for the talks, the stage was set," a Pakistani official briefed on the preparations told Reuters. "If you ask me honestly, it was a setback we were not expecting, because the Iranians never refused, they were up to come and join and they still are."
Source: Korea Times News
