- Two ships, MSC Francesca and Epaminodes, have been seized by Iran's Revolutionary Guard
- On Sunday, the US Navy seized an Iranian cargo ship near the Strait amid blockade enforcement
- Iran condemned US seizure as "piracy" and a "violation" of the ceasefire talks
Two ships have been attacked and are in the custody of Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard and are now being taken to Iran, the country's state television reported. The vessels identified are the MSC Francesca and the Epaminondas
. This comes after the US earlier seized two Iranian vessels as ceasefire talks were due to take place in Islamabad.
"The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps naval force this morning identified and stopped in the Strait of Hormuz two violating ships," the Guards said in a statement. It added that the MSC Francesca belonged to the "Zionist regime" and stated that Epaminondas was "tampering with navigation systems and jeopardising maritime security".
The Guards warned against any action in defiance of the regulations imposed by the Islamic Republic in the Strait of Hormuz, "as well as activities contrary to the safe passage" through the waterway.
The IRGC Navy stated that "disrupting order and safety in the Strait of Hormuz is considered a red line for Iran". The Revolutionary Guards are talking about charges and transit fees to be implemented on the ships and said that any passage should be in coordination with them, according to a report by Al Jazeera.
Iran Fires At 2 Ships In Hormuz
Earlier in the day, two ships had been fired on in the Strait of Hormuz, and the IRGC said that it had seized "two violating vessels".
The British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) centre said that Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) attacked the first container ship in the viral waterways around 7:55 AM, damaging the vessel.
Read | Iran Fires At 2 Ships In Hormuz Hours After Trump's Ceasefire Announcement
The UKMTO said the Iranian gunboat did not warn the ship before it started firing at it. Fortunately, no one was hurt in the incident, and there was no environmental impact from the attack either.
In the second attack, a cargo ship said it had been fired upon and was stopped in the water. It said there was no reported damage to the vessel.
US Navy Boards Iran-Flagged Ship
On Sunday, the US attacked and seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship it said had tried to evade its naval blockade near the Strait of Hormuz. It was the first interception since the US blockade of Iranian ports began last week. Iran's joint military command called the armed boarding an act of piracy and a ceasefire violation, the state broadcaster said.
(With inputs from agencies)
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