Iran, One Day Before Ceasefire Ends, Vows Retaliation Over U.S. Seizure of Vessel

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[Financial News] The government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, with just one day left before its ceasefire with the United States expires, said it would retaliate in response to the seizure of an Iranian cargo ship by the United States.
According to Al Jazeera, a pan-Arab broadcaster based in Qatar, the Khatam ol-Anbiya Central Headquarters, the Iranian military's joint command, issued a statement on the 20th local time confirming that "the United States fired on an Iranian merchant vessel in the Gulf of Oman and deployed Marines onto the deck, disabling the ship's systems."
Khatam ol-Anbiya stressed that "the United States violated the ceasefire and committed maritime piracy," adding that "the Islamic Republic of Iran Army warns that it will soon respond and retaliate against this armed act of piracy by the U.S. military."
Iran, which entered a two-week ceasefire with the United States on the 7th, said on the 17th that it would fully open the Strait of Hormuz for the remainder of the ceasefire period. However, it later said on the 18th that it would block the strait again. Iran claimed that the United States had violated the agreement by blocking Iran-linked vessels entering and leaving the Strait of Hormuz and Iranian ports from the 13th. On the 18th, at least two merchant ships in the Strait of Hormuz turned back after coming under attack by the Iranian navy.
U.S. President Donald Trump, with the ceasefire set to end on the 21st, posted on Truth Social on the 19th that the United States had attacked and seized a cargo ship bound for Iran. The United States had previously turned back about 20 Iran-linked vessels while controlling waters around Iran on the 13th, but this was the first time it had used force.
In a Truth Social post on the 19th, Trump said, "My delegation is heading to Islamabad, Pakistan," adding, "They will be there tomorrow evening, the 20th, for talks." He said, "We have made a very fair and reasonable proposal, and we hope they accept it," and emphasized, "If they do not, the United States will bring down all of Iran's power plants and bridges. They will collapse in an instant, easily."
On the same day, the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), Iran's state-run media outlet, reported that "reports that a second round of talks will be held in Islamabad are not true" and that "at present, the outlook for substantive negotiations remains uncertain."
pjw@fnnews.com Park Jong-won Reporter