Iran's response to the USS Spruance seizure of the cargo ship Touska remains, as of Monday morning local time in Tehran, a stated pledge. The top joint military command's Khatam al-Anbiya spokesperson called the Sunday firing "armed piracy" and said the armed forces would "soon respond and retaliate." [1] No specific action has followed. The paper's lead on the seizure as 60 hours from ceasefire expiry names the vacuum as the morning's most load-bearing fact.

What Iran has done is accelerate missile and drone launcher upgrades, per a National statement that went up overnight, and reiterate via First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref that "one cannot restrict Iran's oil exports while expecting free security for others." [2] [3] Iranian state media reported Tehran rejected the Islamabad Round 2 talks Trump announced Sunday, citing the blockade, shifting American positions, and "excessive demands." [3] Two foreign nationals were arrested for importing Starlink technology into Iran. [2] These are posture moves, not responses.

The material choice Iran has made is the blockade-on-blockade reciprocity: if the U.S. stops Iranian ships, Iran stops all ships. Speaker of Parliament Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf's line Sunday — "it is impossible for others to pass through the Strait of Hormuz while we cannot" — was repeated by state media Monday morning as standing policy. [3] That is a response. It is also the same response as Saturday. What has not appeared is a kinetic reply to the Spruance firing inside Iran's stated "soon" window. The paper's position is to treat the absence as the news. Sixty hours remain to Wednesday. The rhetorical response is public. The operational response has not surfaced.

-- YOSEF STERN, Jerusalem