The crew from the Iranian commercial vessel Touska that has been seized by the US as part of Washington’s continued illegal naval blockade against the Islamic Republic have reportedly been transferred to Pakistan in preparation for their return to Iran.

ABC News reported the development on Sunday, citing US Central Command (CENTCOM), which overseas American troops in the West Asia region.

The transfer to Pakistan, it added, took place to facilitate arrangements for the 22-strong crew’s return.

The report noted that procedures had also begun to return the ship to its owner.

The vessel was seized last month. The United States had announced the blockade on April 13 and then ordered its continuation, despite US President Donald Trump’s having earlier declared a ceasefire in aggression targeting the Islamic Republic.

Iran has vehemently denounced the blockade, and pledged not to rejoin talks with the US as long as it stays in place.

The Islamic Republic has also described seizure of several Iranian vessels as part of the illegal measure, as an act of piracy and asserted that it reserves all rights to take due defensive countermeasures.

Trump has, himself, admitted that the US Navy acts “like pirates” in implementing the blockade.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei commented on the admission in a post on X on Saturday, saying, “This was no verbal slip. It was a direct and damning admission of the criminal nature of their actions against international maritime navigation.”

• Trump calls “Project Freedom” humanitarian gesture for stranded ships.
• Iran chokes off major flows of oil, gas and fertiliser to world economy.
• Over 900 commercial vessels present in Gulf, says maritime intel firm.
  

Iran warned on Monday that it would consider any US attempt to interfere in the Strait of Hormuz a breach of the Mideast ceasefire, as President Donald Trump said the United States would begin escorting ships through the blocked waterway.

Negotiations between the two countries have been deadlocked since a ceasefire came into effect on April 8, and Iran’s stranglehold on the strategic strait following US-Israeli attacks on Tehran has been a main point of contention.

Trump said Sunday the new maritime operation, which he dubbed “Project Freedom,” was a “humanitarian” gesture for crews aboard the many ships swept up in the blockade and which may be running low on food and other crucial supplies.

“We will use best efforts to get their Ships and Crews safely out of the Strait. In all cases, they said they will not be returning until the area becomes safe for navigation,” Trump said in a Truth Social post, noting operations would begin on Monday.

In response, the head of the Iranian parliament’s national security commission said: “Any American interference in the new maritime regime of the Strait of Hormuz will be considered a violation of the ceasefire.”

By blocking the Strait of Hormuz, Iran has choked off major flows of oil, gas and fertiliser to the world economy, while the United States has imposed a counter-blockade on Iranian ports.

Trump, in his post, said he was “fully aware that my Representatives are having very positive discussions with the Country of Iran, and that these discussions could lead to something very positive for all.”

He made no direct mention of what Tehran described as a 14-point plan “focused on ending the war.”

US Central Command said it would use guided-missile destroyers, over 100 land and sea-based aircraft, multi-domain unmanned platforms and 15,000 service members in the Hormuz effort.

As of April 29, more than 900 commercial vessels were located in the Gulf, according to maritime intelligence firm AXSMarine.

‘Impossible operation’

US news website Axios, citing two sources briefed on the proposal, reported that Iran set “a one-month deadline for negotiations on a deal to reopen the strait,” dissolve the US naval blockade and end the war.

Earlier Sunday, the Revolutionary Guards sought to put the onus back on Trump, saying he must choose between “an impossible operation or a bad deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

Washington’s European allies are concerned that the longer the strait remains closed, the more their economies will suffer, and German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul demanded that it be reopened.

In a call with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi, Wadephul stressed that Germany supported a negotiated solution but that “Iran must completely and verifiably renounce nuclear weapons and immediately open the Strait of Hormuz.”

Oil prices are currently about 50% above pre-conflict levels, largely due to the supply snarls in the strait.

‘Suffocating the regime’

The US president, who spent the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, declined on Sunday to specify what could trigger new American military action.

But in his post he said that “if in any way, this Humanitarian (ship-guiding) process is interfered with, that interference will, unfortunately, have to be dealt with forcefully.”

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the US naval blockade was only part of a broader economic embargo.

“We are suffocating the regime, and they are not able to pay their soldiers. This is a real economic blockade, and it is in all parts of government,” he told Fox News.

In yet more bellicose rhetoric, Mohsen Rezaei, a military adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, said Iranian forces would sink US ships.

“The US is the only pirate in the world that possesses aircraft carriers. Our ability to confront pirates is no less than our ability to sink warships. Prepare to face a graveyard of your carriers and forces,” he posted on X.

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani has been hospitalised and is in “critical but stable condition,” his spokesperson said on Sunday.

The spokesperson, Ted Goodman, did not immediately provide more details about Giuliani’s condition or how long he has been hospitalised.

“Mayor Giuliani is a fighter who has faced every challenge in his life with unwavering strength, and he’s fighting with that same strength now,” Goodman said in a statement. “We do ask that you join us in prayer for America’s Mayor Rudy Giuliani.”

Giuliani, 81, garnered acclaim for his response to the September 11, 2001, al Qaeda attack on New York City, earning the nickname “America’s Mayor.”

Giuliani worked as an attorney for President Donald Trump in his failed efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, an effort that led to criminal charges against Giuliani in two US states and a defamation lawsuit from election workers. Giuliani has denied wrongdoing in the criminal cases.

Trump, in a social media post, called Giuliani the “Best Mayor in the History of New York City” and said he had been mistreated by Democrats.

Giuliani was previously hospitalised last year following a car crash in New Hampshire.