Cabot Phillips

And within hours, they began once again firing missiles at numerous vessels, including those from India, France, and Britain.

And they did strike at least one.

In another case, an Indian oil tanker was given permission by the Iranians to pass through, but was fired upon shortly after.

It's unclear if it was an attempted trap or simply a communication error within the Iranian military.

Audio of that incident, though, was released Saturday, and you can hear the frantic Indian captain begging the Iranians to let him turn around after shouting, quote, you gave me clearance to go.

And then following those attacks, Iranian officials said, quote, as long as the U.S.

does not agree to the complete freedom of navigation for vessels, the situation in the Strait of Hormuz will remain tightly controlled and in its previous state.

But the president did not back down.

On Sunday, he announced that for the first time since the blockade began, the U.S.

had seized an Iranian-flagged tanker after it refused to turn around, ignoring numerous warnings over the course of six hours.

U.S.

forces eventually messaged the crew to evacuate the engine room before firing multiple rounds into that portion of the ship.

Marines then boarded it.

The ship is currently in American custody.

This episode really lays bare the conflict within Iran between the more moderate voices who want a deal and the hardline fundamentalists who view any compromise with the U.S.

as unacceptable.

President Trump has expressed satisfaction with Iranian negotiators, calling them reasonable, saying they want to make a deal.

But there are questions in Washington regarding whether those negotiators actually represent the broader desires for the regime itself, which still has more than a few radicals.

For example, after the country's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, tweeted that the strait was fully opened, the Iranian Navy broadcast a message of their own to vessels in the strait, reading, quote, we will open it by the order of our leader, Imam Khomeini, not by the tweets of some idiot.

Well, despite the Strait being closed once again, the White House says they are still confident peace talks will move forward Tuesday in Islamabad, Pakistan.