The U.S. fired on a container ship that tried to run the U.S. blockade of the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday.
As we reported, the ship was the MV Touska, and it was an Iranian-flagged container ship.
U.S. CENTCOM posted video of the encounter. They had warned it for about six hours to stop, but the ship refused to comply. That’s when the destroyer, the USS Spruance, told them to vacate their engine room, which was then fired on to disable the ship.
WATCH : U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) has released footage showing the interception of the motor vessel Touska in the Northern Arabian Sea by USS Spruance (DDG-111).
According to CENTCOM, the destroyer issued repeated warnings over several hours before taking action after… pic.twitter.com/AmaiZeXAHs
— Inside the conflict (@InsidConflict) April 19, 2026
The ship was then boarded and seized.
U.S. Marines depart amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli (LHA 7) by helicopter and transit over the Arabian Sea to board and seize M/V Touska. The Marines rappelled onto the Iranian-flagged vessel, April 19, after guided-missile destroyer USS Spruance (DDG 111) disabled Touska’s… pic.twitter.com/mFxI5RzYCS
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) April 20, 2026
U.S. Marines depart amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli (LHA 7) by helicopter and transit over the Arabian Sea to board and seize M/V Touska. The Marines rappelled onto the Iranian-flagged vessel, April 19, after guided-missile destroyer USS Spruance (DDG 111) disabled Touska’s propulsion when the commercial ship failed to comply with repeated warnings from U.S. forces over a six-hour period.
READ MORE: Iranian Cargo Ship Tries to Get Past the U.S. Blockade – Trump: It ‘Did Not Go Well for Them’
VIDEO: USS Spruance Lights Up Iranian Blockade Runner in a Formidable Demonstration of FAFO
So that raises a lot of questions. Why didn’t the ship just comply and stop or turn around, like most of the other ships? Why try to disregard the highly armed U.S. Navy for six hours? That makes one think that perhaps something was interesting on that container ship that the Iranians wouldn’t want us to know about.
While the ship was listed as sailing from Port Klang, Malaysia, to the Strait, it turns out that before it was at Port Klang, it had been in China, according to reports.
The Touska, which can carry up to around 4,800 20-foot-long containers, had been traveling back from a Chinese chemical-storage port laden with cargo, according to AIS data provided by the global intelligence company Kpler. The Gaolan port is located in Zhuhai, a city on China’s southeastern coast. Experts previously told The Washington Post that it is a known loading port for chemicals including sodium perchlorate, a key precursor for solid rocket fuel that Iran needs for its missile program, though it is not immediately clear what materials were on the ship.
The Touska has been accused in the past of procuring material for Tehran’s ballistic missile program.
It is part of the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL), a state-owned company under U.S., British and European Union sanctions that has been described by the U.S. State Department as the “preferred shipping line for Iranian proliferators and procurement agents.”
That sounds problematic. No wonder the U.S. Navy wasn’t just going to let them slip past.
What was pretty hilarious was the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) spin. According to the semi-official Mehr News, after the U.S. Navy fired on the Touska, the IRGC intervened and forced the U.S. to withdraw.
Iran’s semi-official Mehr news says US forces opened fire on an Iranian merchant ship to force it back toward Iranian waters but withdrew after IRGC naval units intervened, apparently contradicting remarks by President Trump earlier about the seizure of an Iranian vessel.
— Iran International English (@IranIntl_En) April 19, 2026
Then, the IRGC-affiliated Tasnim News claimed the Iranian forces attacked the U.S. ships with drones
#BREAKING IRGC-afiliated Tasnim claims Iranian forces attacked some US military vessels with drones after American forces fired on an Iranian commercial ship in the Sea of Oman.
— Iran International English (@IranIntl_En) April 19, 2026
So I have a question. If the IRGC had intervened and forced the U.S. to withdraw, how did the U.S. come away with the seized ship? Where’s the evidence of any attack by drones? But we just showed the evidence of the ship being fired upon and boarded.
If the Iranian propaganda is so stupid, you can laugh yourself silly over it; they aren’t doing themselves any favors.
Editor’s Note: For decades, former presidents have been all talk and no action. Now, Donald Trump is eliminating the threat from Iran once and for all.
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