US transfers seized Iranian crew to Pakistan in cautious de-escalation signal

The United States has handed over 22 crew members from an Iranian container ship it seized last month, sending them to Pakistan in what Islamabad is framing as a small but deliberate step toward easing tensions in the Strait of Hormuz.

US Central Command spokesman Captain Tim Hawkins said the sailors from the vessel Touska had been transferred for repatriation. Pakistan’s foreign ministry confirmed the move, adding that the crew would be returned to Iranian authorities and describing the handover as a “confidence-building measure”.

The gesture lands in the middle of a still-volatile standoff. The Touska was seized on April 20 in the Gulf of Oman after Washington accused it of violating a US-imposed naval blockade on Iranian ports. Tehran, which had already moved to close the Strait of Hormuz following the outbreak of the US-Israeli war on Iran, condemned the operation as an act of “piracy”.

The seizure itself was forceful and highly visible. According to US military accounts, the USS Spruance fired on the ship’s engine room to disable it after repeated warnings. US Marines later boarded the vessel near Iran’s Chabahar port, securing control after what CENTCOM described as a six-hour standoff.

Since then, the Touska has become one of several flashpoints in a wider maritime confrontation that has seen both sides intercept and challenge vessels in and around the strait.

Monday’s developments suggest that confrontation and diplomacy are now unfolding in parallel. On the same day the crew transfer was confirmed, US President Donald Trump announced that American naval forces would begin escorting commercial ships through the strait under “Project Freedom”, while Iran warned that any transit must be coordinated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Iranian state media also reported that two missiles had struck a US naval vessel near Jask Island after it ignored warnings, a claim denied by Washington.

Against that backdrop, Pakistan has positioned itself as one of the few actors able to keep both sides engaged. Officials in Islamabad are presenting the crew transfer as a tangible outcome of their mediation efforts, which have included hosting rare direct talks between US and Iranian delegations last month.

Those discussions ended without a breakthrough, but they reopened a channel that had been largely frozen for decades. Since then, Pakistan has continued to coordinate with regional players while maintaining contact with both Washington and Tehran.

Iran’s foreign ministry has said it is reviewing the US response to its 14-point proposal aimed at ending the conflict, which was passed through Pakistani intermediaries. Trump has already described that proposal as “unacceptable”, underscoring how far apart the two sides remain.