Tehran, Oct 3 — A senior Iranian shipping official has said the country will pursue in international courts the US attack on and seizure of one of its container ships, which took place in April during the ceasefire between Tehran and Washington, the official news agency IRNA reported Saturday.
Mohammad-Reza Modarres Khiabani, CEO of the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines, made the remarks at a meeting in Tehran while describing as a "war crime" the US forces' boarding and seizure of the Iranian-flagged vessel Touska off the coast of Iran's southeastern Chabahar port in the Gulf of Oman on April 19, said the report.
He said the ship was carrying medicines related to the Iranian Red Crescent Society and dialysis patients, noting that attacking a commercial ship during the ceasefire constitutes a "war crime and violation of the truce," Xinhua News Agency reported.
He also said that the imposition of any form of naval blockade violated international law and constituted a "hostile" act, alleging that the US Navy struck Touska's engine room and took 28 crew members hostage.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump declined to reveal his next move on Iran, saying the situation was “working out very well” and predicting that the conflict would not last long.
Trump made the remarks while speaking to reporters at the White House before departing aboard Marine One.
Asked what his next step regarding Iran would be, Trump initially suggested that disclosing it would make major news.
“That's very, oh, it's -- well, if I told you, you'd have a major story, right? But you'll see. Working out very well. Iran is not doing well,” Trump said.
The President did not elaborate on what action his administration was considering or provide a timetable.
But later in the same exchange with reporters, Trump again referred to Iran while discussing global energy supplies and his efforts to get Europe to put more diesel into the market.