US Navy seizure of Iranian ship casts doubt on fresh talks in Pakistan
Apr 20, 2026
(A.P.) The U.S. Navy’s forcible seizure of an Iranian-flagged cargo ship threw doubt on an announcement from President Donald Trump that U.S. negotiators will head to Pakistan on Monday for another round of talks with Iran.
Trump’s announcement Sunday had raised hopes of extending a fragile ceas
efire set to expire by Wednesday.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei on Monday said Tehran did not have plans yet to attend any talks with the United States.
Trump said the U.S. seized the cargo ship that tried to circumvent a naval blockade near the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, the first such interception since the blockade of Iranian ports began last week.
Iran’s joint military command said Tehran will respond soon and called the U.S. seizure an act of piracy.
The escalating standoff threatened to deepen the energy crisis roiling the global economy and push the two countries toward renewed fighting that has killed at least 3,000 people in Iran, nearly 2,300 in Lebanon, 23 civilians and 15 soldiers in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states. Thirteen U.S. service members have also been killed.
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