By Jonathan Saul
LONDON, April 20 (Reuters) – The Iranian-flagged container ship Touska, which was boarded and seized by the U.S. military on Sunday, is considered by Washington to be a dual-use item that could be used on a military vessel, maritime security sources said on Monday.
A small container ship belonging to the US-sanctioned Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) group ran aground on Sunday off Iran’s Chabahar port in the Gulf of Oman and last reported its position at 1308 GMT, according to ship-tracking data on a marine tracking platform.
US Central Command said Tuska’s crew failed to heed repeated warnings over a six-hour period and that the ship had violated the US embargo.
Security sources, who declined to be identified, said their initial assessment was that they may have been carrying dual-use items after traveling from Asia.
The vessel was earlier transporting items considered dual-use, a source said.
The sources did not go into details of the items. The US Central Command listed metal, pipes and electronic components among other items that could have military and industrial uses and could be seized.
Iran’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Iran’s military said the ship came from China and accused the US of “armed piracy”, state media said on Monday. They said they were ready to face the “absolute aggression” of the US military, but were hampered by the presence of the crew members’ families on board.
Washington imposed sanctions on IRISL in late 2019, describing it as a “preferred shipping line for Iranian proliferators and procurement agents”, which included transporting items targeted for Iran’s ballistic missile program.
The Tuska’s crew includes an Iranian captain and Iranian crew members, although it is not clear whether the entire crew were Iranian nationals, a source said.
IRISL ships are under the control of the Revolutionary Guards and their crews are usually made up of Iranians and sometimes use Pakistani marines, two other sources added.
The ship was spotted in China’s Taikang port, north of Shanghai, on March 25 and arrived in China’s southern Gaolan port on March 29-30, according to satellite analysis by data analytics specialist Cinemax.
The ship loaded containers at Gaolan and then stopped around Malaysia’s Port Klang anchorage on April 11-12 where it loaded more containers, according to Cinmax analysis.
The ship was full of containers when it reached the Gulf of Oman on Sunday.
China has expressed concern over the US “forcible interception” of an Iranian-flagged cargo ship, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said on Monday, urging the parties concerned to responsibly abide by the ceasefire agreement.
US President Donald Trump said in a post on the Truth social platform on Sunday that Tuska was under US sanctions due to a “prior history of illegal activity”, adding that the US military was “looking at what’s on board”.
The US military has broadened its shipping embargo on Iran to include cargoes deemed prohibited, and any vessels suspected of attempting to reach Iranian soil will be “subject to wartime powers of search and search”, the US Navy said in an advisory on Thursday.
The embargo included arms and ammunition.
(Reporting by Jonathan Saul; Editing by Andrew Havens)
