The United States has seized an Iranian cargo ship that tried to run its blockade, it said Sunday, prompting a warning from Tehran that it would retaliate — the development has raised a possibility that the ceasefire between the two countries may not even last the two days it is set to remain in force.
Efforts to build a more lasting peace in the region likewise appeared to be on shaky ground, as Iran said it would not participate in a second round of negotiations that the US had hoped to kick off before the ceasefire expires on Tuesday.
The development comes amid a weeks-long US-enforced blockade of shipping near the Strait of Hormuz, driving global oil prices higher. The blockade might remain in place.
The US has maintained a blockade of Iranian ports, while Iran has lifted and then reimposed its own blockade on marine traffic passing through the Strait of Hormuz, which typically handles roughly one-fifth of the world's oil supply.
The US military had fired at an Iranian-flagged cargo ship as the vessel sailed toward Iran's Bandar Abbas port, President Donald Trump said Sunday. "We have full custody of their ship, and are seeing what's on board," he wrote wrote on social media.
Iran's military said the ship had been traveling from China. "We warn that the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran will soon respond and retaliate against this armed piracy by the US military," a military spokesperson said, according to state media.