Iran says it refrained from retaliation over US ship seizure due to crew families on board

TEHRAN, April 20. /TASS/. Tehran refrained from forcefully retaliating against the April 19 seizure of an Iranian ship by the US because an attack would have posed a threat to the ship's crew members and their families, the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters of the Iranian Armed Forces said in a statement. "After the United States' outrageous aggression against an Iranian commercial vessel in the Gulf of Oman, the Iranian Armed Forces were ready to give a decisive response. However, some family members of the crew were present on board, which created certain restrictions as their security had to be guaranteed," the statement reads. The Iranian command vowed to forcefully retaliate against US actions once the security of the crew members and their families was ensured. Earlier, the US Central Command reported that an Iranian-flagged cargo vessel heading to an Iranian port had been intercepted in the Gulf of Oman. The action was part of efforts to enforce the blockade of Iranian ports that the US had imposed. The Central Command added that after the vessel's crew failed to comply with US demands, a guided-missile destroyer struck the ship's engine room. US marines boarded the vessel afterward.