US Repatriates Captured Iranian Crews To Pakistan.

Tehran/Islamabad; May 2026: Captain Tim Hawkins, spokesperson for US Central Command (CENTCOM) has told the media reporters that crew members of the M/V Touska, which was captured in the Gulf of Oman on 20th April this year have been taken to Pakistan for repatriation to Iran. “Today, US forces completed the transfer of 22 crew members of M/V Touska to Pakistan for repatriation”.

“Custody of Touska is currently being transferred back to its original ownership after the ship was intercepted and seized when attempting to violate the US naval blockade against Iran last month”, Tim Hawkins added.

The US captured the Iranian container ship on April 20 in an attack that Tehran called an act of “piracy”. According to CENTCOM, 06 other passengers on board the ship were transferred to an unspecified regional country for repatriation last week. The 06 are believed to be family members of the crew.

Donald Trump have earlier claimed the Touska was hit after it refused to follow US orders to withdraw from its planned passage through the Strait of Hormuz. Iran has responded by describing the attack and hijack as an act of “piracy”, and threatened retribution. On 20th April – hours after the attack and capture, Iran said it had no plans to send its negotiators for talks with the US in Islamabad. This is the first non-military Iranian ship that US forces are known to have hit during the current war, and the first Iranian cargo vessel that the American military has captured since the start of its week-long naval blockade.

In a latest update today (04th May 2026), the International Maritime Organization (IMO) says up to 20,000 seafarers have been stranded on some 2,000 vessels in the Strait of Hormuz since the US-Israel war on Iran began. The vessels include oil and gas tankers, bulk carriers, cargo ships and tourist cruise liners.

The IMO says there have been at least 19 attacks on vessels in the strait since the war began, killing at least 10 seafarers and wounding eight others. It has previously warned that ships stuck in the Gulf are running critically low on food, fuel and water. “There is no precedent for the stranding of so many seafarers in the modern age”, said Damien Chevallier, director of the IMO’s Maritime Safety Division. The IMO has also called on “all parties to the conflict to de-escalate the attacks so that the seafarers can be evacuated to safety”.

Meanwhile, yesterday late evening (03rd May 2026), US President Donald Trump has announced that under Project Freedom – 15,000 troops and more than 100 land and sea-based aircraft would be deployed in a mission to escort ships stranded in the Strait of Hormuz.

In a sharp contrast, Harlan Ullman, former US Naval Officer has flagged risks about Trump’s Project Freedom, citing it to be highly perilous, if Iran chooses to resist it. “Iran has huge amounts of drones and small craft that could make this very, very difficult”, Ullman told media reporters. “I would hate to see a confrontation where an American warship is hit, because then the Americans will have no other option except to retaliate”.

He expressed hope that Trump’s announcement marked a diplomatic “breakthrough” made in coordination with Iran and the mediators in the talks between the two countries. “I hope the Pakistanis, the Omanis, or the Saudis have been instrumental in some kind of pre-negotiation to allow this to happen”, he said.

Ullman said success ultimately requires diplomacy. “The only solution to this crisis is a reopening of the strait, followed by a long diplomatic negotiation with Iran to deal with its nuclear ambitions. If this mission is a well-considered first step, well done to the Trump administration. But if it has only been half-thought out and leads to escalation, it could be a disaster”. He added, “Negotiation, not bombardment, is the only way this will be solved without disrupting the international economic order”.

Team Maverick.