{"id":208266,"date":"2026-04-20T04:58:29","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T04:58:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/middle-east-crisis-live-ceasefire-under-pressure-and-talks-in-doubt-as-iran-threatens-to-retaliate-to-us-seizure-of-ship-the-guardian\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T04:58:29","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T04:58:29","slug":"middle-east-crisis-live-ceasefire-under-pressure-and-talks-in-doubt-as-iran-threatens-to-retaliate-to-us-seizure-of-ship-the-guardian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/middle-east-crisis-live-ceasefire-under-pressure-and-talks-in-doubt-as-iran-threatens-to-retaliate-to-us-seizure-of-ship-the-guardian\/","title":{"rendered":"Middle East crisis live: ceasefire under pressure and talks in doubt as Iran threatens to \u2018retaliate\u2019 to US seizure of ship – The Guardian"},"content":{"rendered":"

Donald Trump said on Sunday that US marines had taken custody of a vessel that tried to get past the American blockade on Iranian ports
Tehran has \u2018no plans to participate\u2019 in new talks, state media reports, as it accuses US of violating ceasefire<\/strong><\/a>
Iran\u2019s Mizan<\/strong> news outlet is reporting that Iran has executed two individuals accused of involvement in a \u201cspy network linked to Israel\u201d.
We\u2019ll bring you more on this when we can.
The US has just released some more footage<\/a> of the encounter with the Iranian flagged vessel, the M\/V Touska<\/strong>.
In a post on X, US Central Command said US Marines had departed the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli<\/strong> by helicopter and rappelled onto the Iranian-flagged vessel.
It said the US had \u201cdisabled Touska\u2019s propulsion when the commercial ship failed to comply with repeated warnings\u201d over a six-hour period.<\/p>\n

Iran has since vowed to retaliate but has not acted yet.
UK police are investigating whether a string of arson attacks on Jewish sites in London are the work of Iranian proxies, as the country\u2019s chief rabbi said British Jews are facing a campaign of violence and intimidation<\/a>.<\/strong>
The Metropolitan police<\/strong> says officers are probing fires at synagogues and other sites linked to the Jewish community, as well as an attack on a Persian-language media company.
No one has been injured in the blazes, the latest of which caused minor damage to a north London synagogue on Saturday night.
Deputy assistant commissioner Vicki Evans<\/strong> said the attacks had been claimed online by a group calling itself Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia<\/strong>.
double quotation mark<\/title><\/path><\/svg>We are aware of public reporting that suggests this group may have links to Iran. As you would expect, we will continue to explore that question as our investigation evolves \u2026 I\u2019ve spoken previously about the Iranian regime\u2019s use of criminal proxies, and we\u2019re considering whether this tactic is being used here in London.\u201d
In case you\u2019re just joining us, the US military has released footage of their destroyer USS Spruance firing at an Iranian-flagged tanker<\/a><\/strong>, which Iran later vowed it would retaliate for.
US Central Command released a video of the warning message sent by the Spruance to the M\/V Touska, saying it shows the moments before the Touska was seized<\/strong> for crossing the US-imposed blockade line in the Gulf of Oman.
\u201cMotor vessel Touska, Motor vessel Touska. Vacate your engine room. Vacate your engine room. We are about to subject you to disabling fire,\u201d can be heard in the video. Later, three rounds are fired, leaving smoke in their wake<\/strong>.
Central Command said its fire targeted the vessel\u2019s engine room before forces seized the ship. It said Touska was headed to the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas and ignored multiple US warnings over six hours to evacuate the engine room. The Spruance then fired, after which Marines boarded and took hold of the ship.
British foreign secretary Yvette Cooper has said that any talks between the US and Iran<\/a> must result in a toll-free passage for vessels through the strait of Hormuz.<\/strong>
Cooper is travelling to Japan on Sunday on the final leg of a diplomatic mission ahead of the US-Iran ceasefire expiring this week, which she has called a \u201ccritical diplomatic moment\u201d.
double quotation mark<\/title><\/path><\/svg>This is a critical diplomatic moment with the end of the ceasefire looming. Further talks on a lasting settlement are welcome \u2013 they must lead to a toll-free strait of Hormuz \u2026 it is about the precedent this will set for freedom of navigation all over the world. If the wrong precedent is set, it would be deeply damaging not just for the global economy, but for global security, and that is why it is an argument we must win.\u201d
The strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world\u2019s oil normally flows, has been closed by Iran as a response to America and Israel\u2019s strikes, and the foreign secretary has said that proposals have been circulating from Tehran to introduce tolls on the crucial waterway once the conflict concludes.
Oil prices surged on a re-escalation of hostilities in the Middle East war after Iran<\/a> closed the strait of Hormuz at the weekend, just a day after reopening it.
In early trading on Monday, the price of Brent crude climbed 5.8% to $95.64 per barrel<\/strong>. Meanwhile, West Texas Intermediate increased 6.4% to $87.90 per barrel<\/strong>.
S+P 500 futures fell around 0.6%<\/strong> and European futures fell 1.1%<\/strong>. But equity benchmarks in Seoul, Taipei and Tokyo shrugged off risks<\/strong> to advance, with Taiwan\u2019s shares touching a record high<\/strong> and the other two not far behind.
Hong Kong\u2019s Hang Seng rose 0.8%<\/strong>, Japan\u2019s Nikkei climbed 1%<\/strong> and South Korea\u2019s Kopsi rose 1.4%<\/strong>.
However, one of the strongest notes of caution in markets<\/strong> on Monday came from Australia\u2019s largest business lender, National Australia Bank<\/strong>, which flagged a $500m impairment charge as it expects the war to drive up bad debts<\/strong>.
Despite all the uncertainty, Pakistan appears to be preparing for talks between the US and Iran<\/a> to proceed.<\/strong>
Two giant US C-17 cargo planes landed at an airbase on Sunday afternoon, carrying security equipment and vehicles in preparation for the US delegation\u2019s arrival, two Pakistani security sources said.
Municipal authorities in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad halted public transport and heavy-goods traffic through the city.
Barbed wire was rolled out near the Serena Hotel<\/strong>, where last week\u2019s talks were held. The hotel told all guests to leave<\/strong>.
Bahrain\u2019s king<\/strong> has ordered a review of citizenship of those deemed a threat to the island kingdom, amid an intensified crackdown on dissent during the war in the Middle East.
According to the state-run Bahrain News Agency, Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa<\/strong> ordered the government to immediately take measures against \u201cthose who have betrayed the nation or undermined its security and stability\u201d, including stripping Bahraini citizenship from those \u201cwho don\u2019t deserve it\u201d.
\u201cThe situation is still delicate,\u201d the king was quoted as saying.
Bahrain, which hosts the US Navy\u2019s 5th Fleet, has been one of the hardest hit by Iranian missile and drone attacks during the war.
Authorities in the small Shiite-majority island, which is ruled by a Sunni monarchy, have detained many people over the course of the war.
Now in its eighth week, the Iran<\/a> war has killed more than 5,000 people across several countries.
At least 3,000 people have been killed in Iran, more than 2,290 in Lebanon, 23 in Israel<\/a> and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states, <\/strong>the Associated Press has reported. Fifteen Israeli soldiers in Lebanon and 13 US service members throughout the region have also been killed.
Just to recap the latest peace talks <\/strong>news, and whether or not Iran will attend negotiations<\/a> in Pakistan.
State broadcaster IRIB on Sunday cited Iranian sources as saying \u201cthere are currently no plans to participate in the next round of Iran-US talks\u201d<\/strong>.
The Fars<\/strong> and Tasnim<\/strong> news agencies<\/strong> had earlier cited anonymous sources as saying \u201cthe overall atmosphere cannot be assessed as very positive\u201d, adding that lifting the US blockade was a precondition for negotiations.
President Donald Trump<\/strong> ordered US negotiators to travel to Pakistan on Monday, just days before a ceasefire in the Middle East expires.
Hello and welcome to the Guardian\u2019s continuing coverage of the crisis in the Middle East.<\/strong>
The shaky two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran<\/a> was under further pressure on Monday morning, after the US said that it had seized an Iranian cargo ship that tried to run its blockade, and Iran said it would retaliate.
Efforts to build a more lasting peace in the region likewise appeared to be on uncertain ground, as Iranian state media said Tehran would not participate in a second round of negotiations<\/a> that the US had hoped to kick off before the ceasefire expires this week.
Trump had earlier warned Iran that the US would destroy every bridge and power plant in Iran if Tehran rejected his terms, continuing a pattern of such threats throughout the war.
Iran has reportedly rejected participation in a second round of peace talks with the US in Pakistan<\/strong>, citing \u201cWashington\u2019s excessive demands, unrealistic expectations, constant shifts in stance, repeated contradictions, and the ongoing naval blockade, which it considers a breach of the ceasefire\u201d, according to the official IRNA news agency.
Hours before Iran\u2019s statement, Trump said his negotiators would arrive in Islamabad on Monday evening<\/strong>. A White House official said the delegation would be led by vice-president JD Vance and include Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump\u2019s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Donald Trump said in a post on Sunday that the US marines have taken custody of a vessel<\/strong> that tried to get past the American blockade on Iranian ports, adding that US forces stopped the ship by blowing a hole in its engine room.
The US military confirmed that the US destroyer fired \u201cseveral rounds\u201d towards an Iranian-flagged ship<\/strong> that was attempting to pass through its naval blockade. In a statement released on Sunday, US Central Command said the USS Spruance intercepted the Iranian-flagged Touska ship as it travelled towards an Iranian port \u201cin violation of the US blockade.\u201d
The US blockade of Iran\u2019s ports is a violation of the ceasefire agreement<\/strong> and is \u201cboth unlawful and criminal\u201d, Esmaeil Baqaei, a spokesperson for Iran\u2019s foreign ministry, said on Sunday.
Oil prices jumped, the US dollar rose and stock futures fell on Monday as investors dealt with conflicting messages about the Iran war and news that the strait of Hormuz was closed again<\/strong>. In early Asian trading Brent crude futures jumped about 7% to $96.85 a barrel and S+P 500 futures fell about 0.9%. The euro was down 0.3% at $1.1735 and the yen eased about 0.2% to 158.95 per dollar.<\/p>\n

source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Donald Trump said on Sunday that US marines had taken custody of a vessel that tried to get past the American blockade on Iranian portsTehran has \u2018no plans to participate\u2019 in new talks, state media reports, as it accuses US of violating ceasefireIran\u2019s Mizan news outlet is reporting that Iran has executed two individuals accused […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":208267,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-208266","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208266","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=208266"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208266\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/208267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=208266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=208266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=208266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}