The Pakistani government said on Monday that 22 crew members of an Iranian container ship seized by the U.S. Navy last month have been released into Pakistani custody in a “confidence-building measure.” “The individuals were safely flown in Pakistan last night and will be transferred to Iran today. The Iranian ship is also being back-loaded to Pakistani territorial waters for its return to its original owners after necessary repairs,” Pakistani Foreign Minister Isaq Dar said. “Pakistan welcomes such confidence-building measures and will continue to facilitate dialogue and diplomacy while pursuing ongoing mediation efforts for regional peace and security,” the Pakistani foreign ministry said, referring to the sporadic ceasefire negotiations between the United States and Iran that have been hosted by Islamabad. The Iranian container ship MV Touska, owned by an Iranian shipping company that has been under U.S. sanctions since 2018, was confronted by the destroyer USS Spruance in the Gulf of Oman while attempting to violate the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports on April 19. The Touska ignored six hours of radio warnings to turn around, so the Spruance was obliged to blow a hole in the Iranian ship’s engine room, disabling the vessel and taking the crew into custody. The incident marked the first documented use of force since the blockade was imposed on April 13. “American forces acted in a deliberate, professional, and proportional manner to ensure compliance,” U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said when reporting the incident on April 19. The Iranian regime accused the United States of “armed piracy,” demanded the immediate return of the ship and crew, and threatened that Iran’s terrorist Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) would “soon respond and retaliate.” There was no significant act of retaliation. CENTCOM confirmed on Monday that the 22 crew members held aboard Touska were transferred to Pakistan on Sunday. CENTCOM added that six other crew members from the ship were transferred last week. Iranian state media identified those six persons as family members of the Touska crew. Iran’s state-run Fars news agency reported on Monday that 15 of the crew members from Touska have been repatriated to Iran. COMMENTS Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.
The Pakistani government said on Monday that 22 crew members of an Iranian container ship seized by the U.S. Navy last month have been released into Pakistani custody in a “confidence-building measure.” “The individuals were safely flown in Pakistan last night and will be transfe…
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International mediators have proposed a 10-day ceasefire between the United States and Iran, according to a senior Iranian official cited in reports. The measure is described as intended to reduce hostilities and allow renewed talks on a prior interim agreement.
Both sides are assessing next steps in the current regional security situation.
Reports indicate that a US-Iran ceasefire has broken down amid renewed fighting, with the potential impact of mediation efforts by Pakistan, Qatar, and Oman remaining unclear. Earlier diplomatic steps included a June memorandum of understanding between the parties for further negotiations and talks hosted in Geneva in February.
The summary also references Europe’s historical role in diplomacy, including the 1814-15 Congress of Vienna.
Donald Trump stated in a Fox News interview that his representatives had spoken with Iranian officials an hour earlier and that those officials wanted to make a deal to end the conflict, though he noted they had broken prior agreements and expressed uncertainty about whether one would be reached.
He added that people do not want to die and that Iran would need to proceed carefully to avoid further losses. The remarks come amid an ongoing US-Iran conflict that has involved casualties and shipping disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, with some social media users criticizing the repetition of similar statements.
Why the Iran-US ceasefire is falling apart Iran and the US have resumed fighting because they don’t see each other as ‘reliable negotiating partners’, says analyst Ali Vaez. Neither Iran nor the United States seems able to deliver a “knockout blow at an acceptable price” to the other side, and both know “they have no choice other than engaging in diplomacy”, but they’re not ready to make uncomfortable concessions, argues Ali Vaez, director of the Iran Project at International Crisis Group.
Vaez tells host Steve Clemons that Tehran and Washington are trying to “enforce their own interpretation” of the ceasefire agreement they signed last month. President Trump has become “frustrated” with diplomacy because he’s not seeing “the kind of quick results that he likes to see”, Vaez says.