U.S. Marines Seize Touska After USS Spruance Fires Inert Shells in Strait of Hormuz

U.S. Marines from USS Tripoli fast-roped onto the deck of a suspicious container ship named Blue Star III heading for Iran, in an operation described as part of a blockade that has “been unbelievably effective,” President Donald Trump said on Sunday. Fox News said the U.S. has turned back, boarded or seized a total of 39 vessels since April 13, and that “We seized their sanctioned ships, and we will seize more,” U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth briefed at the Pentagon on Friday, April 24. The same report said the drama began on Sunday, April 19, when the Iranian-flagged container ship Merchant Vessel (M/V) Touska tried to enter the Strait of Hormuz and reach the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas. It added that at 9 a.m. the guided-missile destroyer USS Spruance (DDG 111) fired nine inert 5-inch shells into the engine room, leaving Touska dead in the water, before Marines boarded Touska at 4 p.m. and took the ship and crew into custody.

“The announcement of deploying around 2,500 U”

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As the confrontation expands beyond the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said, “Our missiles are ready,” and added, “We are ready for any American ground assault,” according to اليـوم السابع. The same source said the U.S. administration is preparing for weeks of ground operations in Iran, with thousands of U.S. troops and Marines arriving in the Middle East, while also describing a possible ground operation as being considered. In parallel, a separate report said the deployment of around 2,500 U.S. Marines to the region sparked questions about ending the war with “hit-and-run strikes,” and quoted Scott Smithson telling Sky News Arabia that “the deployment of this package of forces indicates that CENTCOM's commander is seeking to strengthen operational capability in the maritime and littoral domains.” Another voice in the same Sky News Arabia account said the amphibious assault group with a Marine unit enables CENTCOM to carry out “rapid, short-range raids and hit-and-run operations,” while keeping open limited ground operations depending on developments.

France 24 reported that the World Health Organization warned of attacks on the health sector in Iran in recent days, saying the Pasteur Institute in Tehran sustained damage from an airstrike and is no longer able to continue providing health services. It said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on X that reports indicated several attacks on the health sector in Tehran, and that the institute is one of 20 facilities WHO has confirmed were targeted. In the same broader escalation, PressTV quoted former Iranian foreign minister Ali Akbar Velayati, senior advisor to Ayatollah Khamenei, warning US Marines that “you will end up in an abattoir,” and said he told sailors onboard USS Tripoli that they are being sacrificed by President Donald Trump. PressTV also said Iran’s IRGC warned that any vessel attempting to cross the Strait of Hormuz must first obtain permission from the Iranian armed forces, emphasizing that all ships planning to pass through the demarcated zone need Iran’s permission.

“Rescue of one of the pilots of an American fighter jet that crashed in Iran and the search for the other is ongoing”

France 24