President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that the U.S. Navy fired on and seized the Iranian-flagged cargo ship Touska, in the Gulf of Oman after it ignored warnings to stop during an attempt to bypass the U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports.

The USS Spruance, a guided-missile destroyer, disabled the vessel by blowing a hole in its engine room, and U.S. Marines subsequently took custody of the ship, which is under U.S. Treasury sanctions due to its "prior history of illegal activity." Trump stated, “We have full custody of the ship, and are seeing what’s on board!”

"Today, an Iranian-flagged cargo ship named TOUSKA, nearly 900 feet long and weighing almost as much as an aircraft carrier, tried to get past our Naval Blockade, and it did not go well for them," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "The U.S. Navy Guided Missile Destroyer USS SPRUANCE intercepted the TOUSKA in the Gulf of Oman, and gave them fair warning to stop. The Iranian crew refused to listen, so our Navy ship stopped them right in their tracks by blowing a hole in the engineroom. Right now, U.S. Marines have custody of the vessel. The TOUSKA is under U.S. Treasury Sanctions because of their prior history of illegal activity. We have full custody of the ship, and are seeing what’s on board!"

The incident occurred amid escalating tensions and just before a possible new round of U.S.-Iran peace talks in Islamabad, Pakistan.

Trump accused Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of violating the two-week ceasefire by firing on two UK and French-flagged ships in the Strait of Hormuz, calling it a “Total Violation of our Ceasefire Agreement!”

Two Indian-flagged tankers were reportedly fired upon by Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) gunboats while attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, prompting a diplomatic protest from India.

Audio and video clips circulating on X captured the distressing moments, including a frantic plea from the captain of the Sanmar Herald, a motor tanker, who exclaimed: “Sepah Navy! Sepah Navy! This is motor tanker Sanmar Herald! You gave me clearance to go! My name is second on your list! You are firing now! Let me turn back!” The audio has been verified via maritime tracking data by TankerTrackers.com and confirmed by the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO). No injuries or significant damage were reported; both vessels safely reversed course.

The Indian Ministry of External Affairs summoned Iran’s ambassador, expressing deep concern and urging the restoration of safe passage for Indian ships, recalling Iran’s prior cooperation. Iran’s Supreme Leader’s representative in India stated the bilateral relationship remains strong and expressed hope the incident would be resolved.

"Iran decided to fire bullets yesterday in the Strait of Hormuz — A Total Violation of our Ceasefire Agreement! Many of them were aimed at a French Ship, and a Freighter from the United Kingdom," Trump claimed on Truth Social. "That wasn’t nice, was it? My Representatives are going to Islamabad, Pakistan — They will be there tomorrow evening, for Negotiations. Iran recently announced that they were closing the Strait, which is strange, because our BLOCKADE has already closed it. They’re helping us without knowing, and they are the ones that lose with the closed passage, $500 Million Dollars a day! The United States loses nothing. In fact, many Ships are headed, right now, to the U.S., Texas, Louisiana, and Alaska, to load up, compliments of the IRGC, always wanting to be 'the tough guy!' We’re offering a very fair and reasonable DEAL, and I hope they take it because, if they don’t, the United States is going to knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran. NO MORE MR. NICE GUY! They’ll come down fast, they’ll come down easy and, if they don’t take the DEAL, it will be my Honor to do what has to be done, which should have been done to Iran, by other Presidents, for the last 47 years. IT’S TIME FOR THE IRAN KILLING MACHINE TO END!"

While French shipping company CMA CGM confirmed one of its vessels was targeted by warning shots, and India reported attacks on its ships, the UK denied any attacks on British-linked vessels. Iran, however, has not confirmed the seizure of Touska and dismissed reports of renewed talks as false, citing the U.S. blockade as unlawful.

Iran had briefly reopened the Strait of Hormuz on April 17 following a 10-day truce and a ceasefire in Lebanon, but reversed the decision within 24 hours after the U.S. maintained its naval blockade of Iranian ports. Iran’s IRGC declared the strait under “strict management,” warning that any vessel approaching without authorization would be considered hostile and targeted.

The Sanmar Herald and another Indian-flagged vessel, Bhagya Lakshmi, were turned back — the latter after being instructed by Iranian forces to “turn around immediately” due to lack of clearance.

The Strait of Hormuz remains closed, affecting about 20% of global oil shipments.

The U.S. demands Iran halt uranium enrichment for 20 years, while Iran insists on its right to enrichment and the lifting of sanctions. Despite Iranian state media rejecting negotiations, U.S. officials, including Vice President JD Vance, Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff, and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, are preparing to travel to Islamabad for mediated talks, with the ceasefire set to expire on Wednesday.

Blue Origin achieved company's historic milestone on Sunday, (April 19), by successfully reusing a New Glenn first-stage booster for the third flight (NG-3), but the mission ultimately failed to deliver its payload correctly due to a second-stage error.

The rocket launched at 1125 UTC from Launch Complex 36 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, where the booster named "Never Tell Me The Odds" (GS1-SN002) made its second flight, marking the first time Blue Origin has re-flown an orbital-class booster.

"Never Tell Me The Odds" shut off its engines and separated from the upper part of the rocket about 3.5 minutes into flight, landing back on Blue Origin's droneship "Jacklyn" in the Atlantic Ocean around six minutes later.

Blue Origin workers across the country cheered loudly as the booster returned to Earth, chanting GS-1 (the technical name of the booster, which Blue Origin calls "Never Tell Me The Odds") during landing.

Jordan Charles, vice president of New Glenn for Blue Origin, said during launch commentary that engineers refurbished the thermal protection system along the base of the rocket so it could better handle the heat of reentry.

"That gets pretty hot as you're coming in during our reentry process," Charles said. "So we want to definitely see and correlate a bit better our thermal environments as we're flying this particular mission."

Blue Origin also made guidance system upgrades to the booster for today's flight.

"We made a few tweaks with respect to how the rocket actually reenters, and then on the inside of the rocket, just making sure all of our systems continue to work as we as we expect that they will," Charles said.

The first reuse of a New Glenn first stage, even if its engines are new, is a significant step toward the company's ultimate vision for the rocket, whose first stages are designed to fly at least 25 times apiece. For this flight, Blue Origin replaced all seven BE-4 engines with new units and tested upgrades, including a thermal protection system on one nozzle, while retaining the original booster shell.

Of the two New Glenn missions to date, only NG-2 successfully landed its first stage aboard the Jacklyn droneship. That mission launched NASA's ESCAPADE probes on a mission to Mars in November 2025. New Glenn debuted in January 2025, on a mission that reached orbit successfully but did not pull off a first-stage landing.

While the first stage performed flawlessly and landed on the Jacklyn during Sunday's launch, the second stage placed the BlueBird 7 satellite for AST SpaceMobile into a lower-than-planned, unusable orbit.

The BlueBird 7 satellite, which features a massive 2,400-square-foot phased array antenna, separated from the rocket and powered on, but its onboard propulsion system could not compensate for the insufficient altitude to reach its intended operational position. AST SpaceMobile confirmed that the satellite will be de-orbited as it lacks the fuel to climb to the required orbit, though the hardware was fully insured.

The failure occurred because the New Glenn's upper stage failed to execute a planned second engine firing or did not run for the full duration required to raise the payload to the target orbit of approximately 285 miles (460 kilometers) at a 49-degree inclination.

"We have confirmed payload separation. AST SpaceMobile has confirmed the satellite has powered on," Blue Origin wrote in a social media update. "The payload was placed into an off-nominal orbit. We are currently assessing and will update when we have more detailed information."

AST SpaceMobile later provided its own update. "While the satellite separated from the launch vehicle and powered on, the altitude is too low to sustain operations with its on-board thruster technology and will [be] de-orbited," the company said in a statement. "The cost of the satellite is expected to be recovered under the company’s insurance policy."

BlueBird 7 was the second satellite in Texas company AST SpaceMobile's "Block 2" constellation, designed to provide direct-to-cellphone 4G/5G service, with the company targeting 45 satellites in orbit by the end of 2026. Its predecessor, BlueBird 6, launched on an Indian LVM3 rocket last December. BlueBird 6 is one of the largest satellites in space, with an antenna that spans 2,400 square feet (223 square meters). BlueBird 7 has the same dimensions.

BlueBirds 1-5, the "Block 1" version, while sizable in their own right, pale in comparison; their antennas cover a more modest 693 square feet (64.4 m) apiece.

Bluebird 7 was scheduled to be deployed into orbit from New Glenn's upper stage about 1 hour and 15 minutes after liftoff. But about 2 hours after liftoff, Blue Origin reported that something appeared to go wrong.

New Glenn stands 322 feet (98 meters) tall — about the same size as the NASA Space Launch System (SLS) rocket that launched the Artemis 2 mission around the moon, and nearly 100 feet (30 m) taller than the 230-foot (70-m) Falcon 9.

New Glenn's first stage is powered by seven BE-4 engines, which burn a fuel mixture of liquid oxygen and liquid methane, known as methalox — the same fuel used by the 33 SpaceX-built Raptor engines that power Starship's Super Heavy booster.

The main goal of Sunday's New Glenn rocket mission was not only to demonstrate it's reusable, but to launch a massive satellite into orbit. Its reusability would allow the company to compete with SpaceX's Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy and Starship rockets, the only orbital-capable boosters to date with proven reusability.

Blue Origin is relying on New Glenn to launch the company's Blue Moon lander, one of two commercial vehicles NASA selected to land astronauts on the moon as part of the agency's Artemis program.

SpaceX had been NASA's first choice for a crewed lunar lander, with Starship slated to put astronauts on the moon on the Artemis 3 mission. But delays and a recent shakeup of Artemis architecture has put Blue Moon back in the spotlight.

During Sunday's launch, Blue Origin officials said its Mark 1 Blue Moon lander, an uncrewed version of the lander, will launch to the moon by the end of this summer. The lander recently completed environmental testing at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. It is now back at Blue Origin's Rocket Park facility in Cape Canaveral for final work. The problem New Glenn experienced on today's launch could complicate that timeline, however.

Artemis 3 will no longer go to the moon. NASA now wants astronauts aboard its Orion spacecraft to practice rendezvous and docking maneuvers in Earth orbit with either or both of the lunar landers, and has indicated a willingness to fly with whichever is ready once it's time to launch — hopefully, in mid-2027.

Both landers have a list of qualifications and technology demonstrations to complete before NASA certifies either to support astronauts aboard, such as on-orbit cryogenic fuel transfer and uncrewed lunar landings, but each is making progress.

SpaceX is currently performing prelaunch tests on the Version 3 of its Super Heavy booster and Starship upper stage, which are expected to lift off on the vehicle's 12th test flight in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, the Mark 1 (Mk1) Blue Moon vehicle recently completed a stint inside the massive vacuum chamber at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston and was later shipped to the Kennedy Space Center, in Florida, for further testing.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi announced the Strait of Hormuz is "completely open" for commercial vessels for the remainder of a two-week ceasefire*, specifying that passage must follow a coordinated route previously designated by Iran’s Ports and Maritime Organization, which includes navigational corridors around Larak Island and avoids a central "dangerous area" potentially containing sea mines.

"In line with the ceasefire in Lebanon, the passage for all commercial vessels through Strait of Hormuz is declared completely open for the remaining period of ceasefire, on the coordinated route as already announced by Ports and Maritime Organization of the Islamic Rep. of Iran," Araghchi wrote on X. He framed the reopening as conditional on the ceasefire with the U.S. and Israel, particularly citing the truce in Lebanon.

President Donald Trump confirmed the strait is "COMPLETELY OPEN AND READY FOR BUSINESS," but stressed the U.S. naval blockade on Iranian ports "will remain in full force" until a comprehensive deal—especially on Iran’s nuclear program—is finalized, clarifying that the reopening is not tied to the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire.

Trump thanked Pakistan for mediation efforts and expressed gratitude to Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar for their "bravery and help," while dismissing NATO as a "Paper Tiger" and telling them to "stay away." He also declared Israel is "PROHIBITED" from bombing Lebanon, a restriction the State Department clarified applies only to offensive actions, not self-defense.

Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf supported the move, emphasizing Iran’s sovereignty over the strait and warning against foreign military presence.

"1- The President of the United States made seven claims in one hour, all seven of which were false, " Ghalibaf wrote on X. "2- They did not win the war with these lies, and they will certainly not get anywhere in negotiations either. 3- With the continuation of the blockade, the Strait of Hormuz will not remain open. 4- Passage through the Strait of Hormuz will be conducted based on the 'designated route' and with 'Iranian authorization.' 5- Whether the Strait is open or closed and the regulations governing it will be determined by the field, not by social media. 6- Media warfare and engineering public opinion are an important part of war, and the Iranian nation is not affected by these tricks. Read the real and accurate news of the negotiations in the recent interview of the Foreign Ministry spokesman."

The reopening followed a 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, brokered by the U.S., which Iran insists must include Hezbollah.

Iranian state media and semiofficial outlets like Fars and Mehr criticized Araghchi’s announcement, demanding clarification and suggesting it gave Trump undeserved credit.

Oil prices dropped over 10% on the news, with Brent crude falling below $90 a barrel, signaling market relief over resumed energy flows.

U.S.-Iran talks are expected to resume soon, possibly in Pakistan, aiming for a deal that includes removal of Iranian nuclear material and mine clearance in the strait.

UN and European leaders, including Germany’s Friedrich Merz, called for unconditional, unrestricted access in line with international maritime law, and announced plans for a multinational security mission post-ceasefire.