"Concerns grew on Monday that the ceasefire between the United States and Iran might not hold after the US said ?it had seized an Iranian cargo ship that tried to run its blockade and Iran vowed to retaliate. Efforts to build a more lasting peace ?in the region likewise appeared to be on shaky ground, as Iran said it would not participate in a second round of negotiations that the US had hoped to kick off before the ceasefire expires on Tuesday.

The US has maintained a blockade of Iranian ports, while Iran has lifted and then reimposed its own blockade on marine traffic passing through the Strait of Hormuz, which typically handles ?roughly one-fifth of the world's oil supply. The US military said on Sunday it fired on an Iranian-flagged cargo ship as the vessel sailed toward Iran's Bandar ?Abbas port. "We have full custody of their ship, and are seeing what's on board!" President Trump wrote on social media. Iran's military said ?the ship had been traveling from China.

"We warn that the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran will soon respond and retaliate against this armed piracy by ?the US military," a military spokesperson said, according to state media. Oil prices jumped and stock markets wobbled, as traders pondered the prospect that traffic in and out of the Gulf ?would remain at a bare minimum. 

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)