The Pakistani government said on Monday that 22 crew members of an Iranian container ship seized by the U.S. Navy last month have been released into Pakistani custody in a “confidence-building measure.”
“The individuals were safely flown in Pakistan last night and will be transferred to Iran today. The Iranian ship is also being back-loaded to Pakistani territorial waters for its return to its original owners after necessary repairs,” Pakistani Foreign Minister Isaq Dar said.
“Pakistan welcomes such confidence-building measures and will continue to facilitate dialogue and diplomacy while pursuing ongoing mediation efforts for regional peace and security,” the Pakistani foreign ministry said, referring to the sporadic ceasefire negotiations between the United States and Iran that have been hosted by Islamabad.
The Iranian container ship MV Touska, owned by an Iranian shipping company that has been under U.S. sanctions since 2018, was confronted by the destroyer USS Spruance in the Gulf of Oman while attempting to violate the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports on April 19.
The Touska ignored six hours of radio warnings to turn around, so the Spruance was obliged to blow a hole in the Iranian ship’s engine room, disabling the vessel and taking the crew into custody. The incident marked the first documented use of force since the blockade was imposed on April 13.
“American forces acted in a deliberate, professional, and proportional manner to ensure compliance,” U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said when reporting the incident on April 19.
The Iranian regime accused the United States of “armed piracy,” demanded the immediate return of the ship and crew, and threatened that Iran’s terrorist Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) would “soon respond and retaliate.” There was no significant act of retaliation.
CENTCOM confirmed on Monday that the 22 crew members held aboard Touska were transferred to Pakistan on Sunday. CENTCOM added that six other crew members from the ship were transferred last week. Iranian state media identified those six persons as family members of the Touska crew.
Iran’s state-run Fars news agency reported on Monday that 15 of the crew members from Touska have been repatriated to Iran.